Striking images captured by Derbyshire photographer during Covid pandemic go on show

Tony Fisher was inspired by the way in which communities tackled the deprivation of contact with relatives, neighbours and workmates. His large collection of photographs show residents of a Derbyshire town moo-ing at the same time every day or concentrating on hobbies to combat isolation and boredom.

"It's all about humanity," he said. “When they talk about levelling up, we were all kind of levelled up during the pandemic because everyone was more or less equal."

He started photographing people and nature in late 2019 for an exhibition titled Only The Lonely. Tony’s collection was set to be unveiled at Erewash Museum and then the country went into lockdown. Several photographs earmarked for the physical display were exhibited online for people to view in the comfort of their own home.

Nearly two years later and with new additions to the original collection, Only The Lonely is now showcased at the Ilkeston museum where it is running until January 3, 2023.

Tony said: "The collection is a mixture of pictures taken in Derbyshire and deserted streets in the pandemic. I went to my local park every day during lockdown photographing different things in different light. There's one, in black and white, which shows rays of the sun coming through a tree on an empty bench in Riddings Park. During the pandemic two women got arrested for having a cup of coffee outside when you weren't allowed to sit on benches; I wrote a poem about it and put the poem next to the photo of the bench.”

The Belper Moo, in which residents would mimic the noise of cows at the same time every day during lockdown, is captured in Tony’s photographs. He said: "I made some good friends there - they did a fantastic job. Belper Moo was taken on a big camera, a Nikon D500, as the photos had to be taken from a distance."

His favourite photo in the Ilkeston exhibition is of autumn leaves in water with an overhanging branch. Tony said: "There was a nature trail with a gloomy pond but the light came through a tree and it all lit up and looked like a painting. That one was taken in Kimberley in Nottinghamshire.

"I've done a number of podcasts, talking about how nature is important to people's health. I'm proud to be able to do something that raises mental health in the community."

Mental health is a topic that is close to Tony's heart. The 68-year-old father lost his mum, his dad and his wife within a year of each other during the mid-Nineties, plunging him into a spiral of depression, anxiety and loneliness. He said: "I'm not cured...but art has made me feel a lot better. I want to keep working as long as I'm able to."

Tony is also battling physical disability. He said: "Eleven years ago I knocked my leg on a chair and got septicaemia which brought out ulcers on my leg and I've been in and out of clinics ever since."

Despite the ending of a grant from Arts Council England that funded his Only The Lonely project, Tony has continued to take photos based on the theme. His exhibition of 30 images at the Erewash Museum contains some photographs that have been on show elsewhere including the Peak District Mining Museum in Matlock Bath, Belper Library, Artcore in Derby, hospitals in Derby and in Burton, and The Art House in Wakefield.

Over the past few months Tony has had a variety of work including photographing the plaques on chat benches across Derbyshire for the county council and contributing to several podcasts which partnered him with a psychiatrist and a teenage rapper.

His sights are now focused on commissioning artists to make sculptures for a trail tracing the history of Alfreton, in his role as project co-ordinator.