Watch Kate Middleton Thank Entrants to the Hold Still Photography Project as Exhibition Closes
The Duchess of Cambridge launched the Hold Still photography project back in May to capture a “portrait of the nation” during the pandemic, and in total, more than 31,000 images were submitted. Since September, 100 selected images have been on display in a virtual National Portrait Gallery exhibition, and today Kate has thanked everyone who has taken part as it comes to an end.
The Duchess released a video message saying she was “thrilled” by the response to the project and that it was “so hard select the final 100 photographs.” She also spoke with Johannah Churchill, whose portrait "Melanie, March 2020" was recreated as a mural in the city of Manchester as part of the exhibition. The picture captures Johanna’s colleague Melanie as she set up a COVID clinic in London.
“It has been fantastic to see these portraits on billboards and outdoor poster sites across the country as part of our community exhibition, and I’m hugely grateful to all our partners for helping us take the images back to the people and communities who took them,” the Duchess said in her message. “For me, the most powerful part of the project is that it has shown just how much people and communities have come together and how important we all are to each other. Thank you so much for being part of Hold Still and for sharing your stories with the nation.”
During her video call with Johannah and Dr. Edward Cole, who was also involved in setting up the COVID clinic, Kate discussed “the important role the photograph has played in helping to represent the experiences of frontline workers across the nation as they continue to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak,” according to Kensington Palace.
The Hold Still exhibition featured images focussed on three themes; Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal, and Acts of Kindness. It included pictures of healthcare workers, families in lockdown, and community projects, and many of the images featured were particularly moving. The online exhibition has received more than 5.2 million page views since it went live on September 14 and the 100 pictures have also been displayed on billboards and murals in 80 locations in the UK. In October, Kate and William visited one of the community exhibition sites in central London as well as meeting frontline workers involved in the project.
The Queen wrote a message for the exhibition launch in which she said, “the photographs have captured the resilience of the British people at such a challenging time.”
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