“Sweeteens”: Young Londoners Enjoying Freedom after the Lockdown – Design You Trust

“Sweeteens”: Young Londoners Enjoying Freedom after the Lockdown

Made from photographs taken in May of last year, as the UK’s first lockdown began to ease, photographer Laura Jane Coulson’s new book, Sweeteens, is a love letter to freedom, youth, and the green spaces of London. The book immortalizes friends of the photographer, mostly young people, enjoying these precious moments of freedom in such an absurd time.

More: Laura Jane Coulson, “Sweeteens” h/t: fubiz

“In May 2020, at the end of an unseasonably warm spring, lockdown began to lift – and with it, to everybody’s surprise, the thrum of friction that soundtracks a city like London subsided. The percussive clang of discord, usually a constant companion from borough to borough, was temporarily silent. In its place, harmony hung like a low haze over the streets, sinking into the cracks between buildings and soothing their inhabitants. Permitted to spend time outside again, Londoners were drawn to the city’s green spaces to see their friends and family – from a distance, kind of.

The combination of proximity after months spent in isolation, the quiet joy of reunion, intimacy and idle chatter, the bittersweet recognition of what had been lost in a few short months all melded together, glued by heat, relief, a kind of raw, hopeful happiness. The atmosphere was defiant, gentle, bold and jubilant. It felt strangely calm. This is the city that Laura Jane Coulson captures, in the photographs that follow. A couple of weeks later, something in the air had changed again, and the spell was over. The cacophony returned, coarse and dissonant as ever. But that, of course, is part of the magic.”

A project that also has a charitable purpose: all proceeds will be donated to YoungMinds, an organization that takes care of young people’s mental health during these pandemic months.




If you want more awesome content, subscribe to 'Oh, Design You Trust,' our brand new Facebook page! Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

More Inspiring Stories

Visual Artist Damien Hypolite Revisited Assassin’s Creed Locations In Modern Paris
"Fantplastique" By Ausra Osipaviciute
Breathtaking Surreal Self Portraits By Rachel Baran
Photographer Captures The Victims Of Forest Fire Pose In The Ruins Of Their Houses
Inside The Abandoned Six Flags, New Orleans
Signs Of Life: Surreal Light-Painting Photography By Eric Paré
Beautiful Early Entries Of The 2020 Sony World Photography Awards
19 Times People Took An Ordinary Photo And Got A Renaissance Masterpiece
Alone Together: Photographer Portrays Ordinary People In Their Homes In A Downbeat And Ultra-Stylised Manner
Introducing The World’s First Bee Influencer
Belgian Photographer Xavier Portela Captures Asian Cities Bathed In A Neon Pink Glow
Sony World Photography Award Winners
Magical Photos Of Budapest At Christmas Time
These Color Photos of Paris Were Shot 100 Years Ago
Chinese Artist Creates Creepy Celebrity Portraits Made From Other People’s Faces
Graveyard of The Bikes: Aerial Photos of China's Failed Share-Cycle Scheme Show Mountains of Damaged Bikes
Spectacular Winning Photos of The 2022 Underwater Photographer of the Year
A Scary Side of Beauty Culture
Rare And Beautiful Portrait Photography Of Marilyn Monroe From The 1950s
Mesmerizing Aerial Pictures Of Australia Taken With A Drone
Mushroom, UFO or Superstorm?
Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2015 Finalists
Disney-Inspired Princesses Painfully Project Real World Problems In Photo Series
This UFO Spaceship McDonald’s Used to Exist in Alconbury, England in the 1990s