Coronavirus: Sheffield 'doorstep portraits' capture life in lockdown

With people across England told to stay at home, a photographer has been documenting the lockdown through a series of "doorstep portraits".

Ellie Last, from Sheffield, has been capturing the images on her daily walks around the city with her dog, Luther, after all her bookings were cancelled.

She said the people she had photographed had said how nice it was to see another person's face.

And Ellie said the project had been a real boost for her mental health.

Ellie said the project was born in the days after she had gone into "full meltdown" when the country was placed into lockdown and weeks' worth of bookings were cancelled.

"To have a business that you've built up for so many years and then see it taken away from you was absolutely terrifying," she said.

But when a friend in self-isolation suggested taking her photo from a distance while she dropped off a package it sparked an idea in her head.

"I took a photo of her on her driveway and thought there's lots of people I know that live locally and this would make quite a nice snapshot for them to keep to remember who they had been in lockdown with," she said.

After photographing a few friends and sharing the results on Instagram she started getting messages from people asking her to take their portrait and said the project had grown from there.

Ellie said as well as creating a record of the unprecedented time, combining her daily walk with her passion for photography had been a huge benefit to her.

"Personally it has improved my mental health a lot," she said.

"Just being able to get out and see a human face. I think without it I would have been climbing the walls."

Among the portraits she has taken is one of a couple whose wedding she had been due to photograph on 11 April (pictured above) so when they contacted her about a doorstep portrait she arranged it for that date so they would have a snapshot from their "big day".

Ellie said one woman she visited said when she arrived to take her photo it was the first time she had opened her front door in three weeks.

Another family who she photographed at the start of the project (below) gave birth shortly after the picture was taken and she has since returned to take a photo of the new arrival, who has been name Nye, after the founder of the NHS Nye Bevan.

"There's no contact with anyone on the walk," she said.

"I will message them to say I've arrived, they open their door, we have a quick conversation and I take a snap. It's all done in five minutes.

"But, people have been telling me how nice it is to see my face and to interact with somebody else, even if just for a few minutes."

All photos copyright Ellie Grace Photography