Diana Serban

Diana’s Lockdown Story

‘I am a self-taught amateur photographer whose work explores themes around individual and collective experiences, transience, legacy and aesthetic stereotypes.

For me, photography acted as a wellbeing tool, therefore my goal is to create a context for the viewer to connect with overlooked emotions. In the past 3 years, my images have been included in several group exhibitions in the UK, Netherlands, Portugal and France, as part of the Shutter Hub collective.

[Lockdown] has reactivated my anxiety and panic attacks and made me seek support from a psychotherapist.
It has also made me reconsider my career and future, invest more in personal relationships and my personal wellbeing and creativity.

[These] photographs are from a selection of images I have created during the lockdown. I chose four stills- studies of colour, light and composition and three self-portraits symbolising stages of dealing with the lockdown- Reason, Surrender, and Embrace.

When it comes to A Day at the Sea, it actually has a nice backstory: I collected the shells, algae, seawater and sand from a beach in Southend on what was my first outing after the lockdown. I then recreated the environment in my home in Hampstead. In a large glass container, I added wild summer flowers foraged from the Heath to symbolise the Summer season. As a hint to a sunken treasure, I also included a dried camellia flower, spray painted in gold. I played with various coloured backgrounds behind the glass but decided on a turquoise satin textile that represented perfectly the colour and light variations of the sea on a sunny day.

Photography has always improved my wellbeing, especially during the pandemic as I found myself with more time on my hands to dedicate to it.

[Covid-19] has allowed me to dedicate valuable time to education, research, introspection and especially practice. I found myself immersed in the process, losing track of time while creating and experimenting.’