Annan Through a Pandemic

Annan Through a Pandemic



Coronavirus has changed all of us in one way or another. Decades and even centuries from now future generations will read about this pandemic and because we live now in a digital world where photographs and video footage are commonplace they will be able to see what it was like for our generation. Of course, different people will have different experiences. Such experiences will be influenced by cultures, beliefs and a 'sense of place.' It was the desire to record a specific 'sense of place' that was the inspiration behind Annan Through a Pandemic.


I moved to Annan in 1983. Like most people I enjoyed delving into the town's history and in particular I loved looking at old photographs of the town from Victorian times. Those images with people dressed in the clothes of their era allow us a glimpse of what it must have been like living back then. I've seen faded images of townsfolk sitting around the Fish Cross or horses and traps going along the High Street with the architecture of the town as a backdrop. I've been enthralled by photographs of people on the quayside witnessing the launching of one of Annan's famous clippers. Visitors and residents alike enjoy looking through photographs of yesteryear in the many issues of the Riding of the Marches programmes. None of these things would be possible if someone hadn't recorded those moments in history. 

When Coronavirus hit the world and Annan went into lockdown I found that walking the empty, still streets allowed me to see the town in a way I hadn't before. Somehow the architecture and history of the place shone again. I realised that, like the rest of the world, we were living through a very unique moment in time. With that in mind I set about recording the town through these strange times. I wanted to show the beauty of the buildings - along with the occasional eyesore - so that we can all reflect on what we have and what we are in danger of losing.
I wanted to show people coming back onto the streets in small, tentative numbers and then in greater numbers. I wanted to record what it was like when we were asked to start wearing masks in the shops and how some people found fun in personalising these masks. I wanted to capture the difficulties, the sadness and the hope and joy that shines through from smiles behind the masks. As we took small steps back to normality I wanted to show how difficult it was for shopkeepers to make a living through these times and how businesses embraced the necessary changes.



When I started the project early in 2020 I had no idea we would still be suffering the effects of the pandemic more than a year later - and even beyond!. As a consequence, this project is perhaps one of the most comprehensive photography projects undertaken in Annan's history. I amassed hundreds of photographs of the town and its people over a twelve month period and I believe these images document an important piece of social history. The spirit of Annan lives in its history, its architecture, the people of yesteryear and you and me - the people of today. 


To everyone who has featured in any of these images (knowingly or unknowingly) I thank you for being part of a project that aims to show future generations what we have gone through in a small town in Southwest Scotland. We may be sharing the same coronavirus problem with the rest of the world but Annan is unique and we as its people are all unique. 





Many of the images taken now form part of a book - Annan Through a Pandemic. It is my hope that the images in this book will act as a lasting record of an unusual period in Annan's history. 







Annan Through a Pandemic is available to purchase as eBook, PDF and collector’s edition hardback.



PDF link & Collectors Edition Hardback link - https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/10805113-annan-through-a-pandemic-2020-2021


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Articles and photography copyright of Tom Langlands

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