Foreword by Sebastian Faulks
Special Limited First Edition £65
In his second book, 'Cambridge - Time & Space', photographer Martin Bond has carefully chosen a picture for every day of the year selected from the period before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photographs that capture the months before lockdown are interspersed with desolate images of deserted streets and candid moments as a city and its people searched for perspective during the chaos of a rapidly unfolding situation.
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An introduction to each month and captions for every photograph.
A photograph for every day of the year selected from three years of daily pictures.
Limited First Edition includes photographs of Cambridge streets during lockdown.
11th January
Headlights illuminate waiting passengers outside the old cinema on Hobson Street
27th February
The ‘Beast from the East’ brings a sudden snow storm to Cambridge
24th March
Gerald Meade, Head Porter at Peterhouse, goes about his business as usual
14th April
two students take COVID-19 social-distancing to new heights
18th July
A visiting couple dance the tango on a wall outside King’s College
20th October
A self-isolating student receives emergency supplies from a friend
14th May
Bridge of Sighs is lit in blue for NHS staff and keyworkers during the pandemic
19th August
In a British summer, umbrellas prove absolutely essential for a picnic
22nd November
A greengrocer on Mill Road appears on the look-out for any last minute customers
12th June
A skilled kayaker heads fearlessly into an imagined vortex
26th September
At the Champion of the Thames, one regular works his way across and down
28th December
Two young boys enjoy a misty view of the Mathematical Bridge
This is the second book in Martin Bond’s acclaimed photographic trilogy from his much-loved Cambridge Diary project. It contains 365 images, covering three years (2018-2020), a period which leads the reader towards and into the global pandemic. The book is a striking visual record of a historical era, with images that capture the desolate streets, alongside stories of people searching for normality and perspective during these lost years.
All of Bond’s photographs exude quality and the book is elegant, thoughtful and generous. The respect and affection he has for the city and its occupants leaps off every page. The photographs are theatrical, dramatic, cosy, clever, fantastical, poignant, witty and romantic; everyday scenes made extraordinary by a shaft of light, an unexpected gesture or an odd juxtaposition. Again and again, Bond shows his gift for bringing a distinctive twist or an arresting angle to a familiar scene, making even those of us who live and work in this city question whether we really knew it at all.
From 23rd March, 2020, the silent theatre of the photograph meets the silent theatre of the street. Bond’s lockdown pictures show a city devoid of the performances of our daily lives. The architectural beauty of eerie, empty Cambridge streets contrasts starkly with the distanced shoppers waiting outside Tesco. Plain, drab, worn and sad, the iconic supermarket queue conveys the robotic resignation, the bigness, and the boringness of the pandemic.
Along with each image is a text by the photographer. Bond’s engaging writing style moves from short and snappy to ponderous and reflective, from historically insightful to personal and anecdotal. He’s good company, his natural train of thought occasionally spilling into longer vignettes - a ghost story, a folk story - as the mood takes him. As the book gradually settles down into post-pandemic life, so do the people, and Bond is there to capture the return of the routines and rituals, the joy and the humour, the quirkiness and the tenderness of human life on the streets of Cambridge.
Kate Romano
Artistic Director, Goldfield Productions & CEO, Stapleford Granary
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