Polly Morgan, Signs of Covid (DOCO 2022)

I took these photos of some of the different signs relating to covid that were put up in inner Melbourne during 2020, as well as a tribute to essential workers during the pandemic that was part of the Christmas lights show at the State Library of Victoria at the end of the year. I feel like each sign was a snapshot of how the pandemic was progressing in Melbourne, with the "Stay Home" message loud and clear in the first photo at the start of the pandemic and initial lockdown in April, followed by the hope that things were going back to normal at the start of July, to a sudden reversal back to the "Stay Home" message less than 2 weeks later, and then the almost pointless "R U OK" sign at the end of September, after many weeks of the very harsh Stage 4 lockdown - most people weren't ok by this point (although they were mostly still coping). Finally, the Christmas lights display signalled the relief at the end of the lockdowns, the happiness in being able to celebrate the holiday season, and the gratitude to the essential workers who had been pivotal in getting the community through the second wave. There was genuine hope we were through the worst of it. Unfortunately 2021 was still to come.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.