How UAE families are choosing to capture life in lockdown

When Dubai first went into full lockdown mode, photographer Wendy Mayo of Deun Photography noticed something strange: “People were being so negative with one another. On social media there was a lot of sniping and complaining about other people’s behaviour. It almost felt like we were spying on each other.”

But rather than adding to the doom and gloom by complaining about it herself, photographer Wendy decided to do something positive.

“Once we were allowed out for exercise, I put a post on the Facebook group of my community, Damac Hills, and said: ‘Hey Neighbours, I am feeling really isolated. How about I take a doorstep photo of your family, and you donate to the [UAE humanitarian campaign] 10 Million Meals initiative?’”

As her photography business income had disappeared during the lockdown, Wendy wasn’t in a position to make a contribution to this government backed campaign to help those in need due to COVID-19 herself, but she thought this would be a constructive way to engage with the community and create some positivity.

The uptake was huge and for the next two weeks Wendy took photos of around 50 families in and around Damac Hills. “It was always from a distance of around 7 metres, and I just took people as I found them.”

Some people came out dressed up, some came dressed down, and some brought props of things that had helped them get through the lockdown time.

“Once, a pair of teenage boys came down in their pajamas with Playstation controllers,” says Wendy.

As Dubai gradually eased up on the restrictions, Wendy widened the net of where she was taking the family photos, and the doorstep photo trend took off. “People started to see other people’s photos on Instagram or Facebook and I got requests from all over Dubai.”

Wendy and her business partner at Deun Photography, Fleur, have now taken around 400 families’ doorstep photos outside villas and apartment all across the city, from Bur Dubai to Jebel Ali.

Having encouraged people to donate to the 10 Million Meals initiative in return for their photo being taken, Wendy says that she thinks they must have raised quite a significant amount of money for it, although she can’t know for sure as she didn’t specify a minimum amount.

“The largest donation I know that was made was Dh2,500, and the smallest that I know of was from a little boy, who donated Dh10 of his pocket money because he was so moved when he heard about the 10 Million Meals Initiative.”

“I didn’t want it only to be for those who could afford to donate,” says Wendy. “I wanted it to be about us all being in it together as a community. I wanted it to be about the fact that we are all human beings before anything else.”

Taking the photos was a ray of light in a very dark time, says Wendy. “In those early days when everyone was quite anxious and fearful of the future, as we all still are now, it was amazing how uplifting it was to meet people – even if it was 7 metres away with a mask on.”

Wendy says it was lovely to hear people’s stories and to be able to perhaps tell them something funny in return. “A lot of people said it was the first time they’d laughed out loud for months.”

Wendy recounts one family who, in a classic miscommunication between husband and wife, managed to get locked out of their house while having the photoshoot. “I chatted with them on the doorstep while they waited for a spare key to be brought round,” she says.

Connecting with people, even from a distance, is part of the creative challenge of the doorstep photos, says Wendy. “I always want to chat for 5-10 minutes, to get a sense of people’s personalities so that I can hopefully get some of that across in the photos and something that expresses them.”

Even though restrictions have eased considerably in Dubai, Wendy says that there is still a lively demand for the doorstep photos now, and people are always keen to have versions with face masks on as well as without.

“It’s a memento of this historical moment in time. Many of the families have little ones or are expecting little ones who won’t remember this period, so this is a way of capturing a unique snapshot of history for them.”

Wendy says her favourite images are the black and white ones with masks on, followed by the ones in which she captures natural moments when the families were laughing out loud.

“The masked ones are very evocative of this snapshot of what will hopefully become a period in our history, rather than something we will become accustomed to,” says Wendy.

Now that the 10 Million Meals initiative has closed and most things have returned to the New Normal, Wendy and her colleague at Deun Photography are charging a reduced rate of Dh300 for the doorstep photoshoot.

Wendy says she thinks that lockdown has led to many people re-evaluating their lives and counting their blessings, and the doorstep photo is a way of memorialising this.

“I think we have spent so much time in our homes that we have become quite connected with how lucky we are to have homes and to be in them together as a family."

"We’ve realised: It’s OK really. We’ve got a house. We’ve got each other. So many people don’t. ”