Hundreds of photographs of Londoners standing at their front doors during lockdown go on show at Alexandra Palace.
Front Door Photo was a charity project in aid of victims of domestic abuse started by Bounds Green portrait photographer Jenny Smith.
When her bookings dropped off a cliff during the pandemic, she decided to raise funds in memory of a friend.
“One day during lockdown, domestic violence charitY Refuge, recorded a 700% increase in traffic to their website; an alarming statistic," she said.
"Having had a friend who took her own life following years of domestic abuse, I decided to raise some money to help."
In return for a donation to Refuge, Smith took socially distanced portraits of families, householders and assorted pets standing at their front doors. Some dressed up for their photo, while others wore dressing gowns to denote lockdown life, or clutched items that showed what they were missing such as passports and golf clubs.
After setting up a JustGiving page, Smith hoped to raise around £1000, but by the end of the project Front Door Photo had notched up £21,284 and inspired other photographers to capture their own communities.
“I thought I’d photograph a few friends and it would all be over in a few days” said Smith. “But once word started to spread the donations began flooding in and what I thought would be a few days turned into two months photographing nearly 500 households.”
Some famous faces popped up in Smith's photos including Radio 1 Breakfast Show DJ, Greg James and his author wife Bella Mackie, TV presenter and actress Nicola Thorp, Eastenders actor Nitin Ganatra, and former Labour party leader Ed Miliband, who lives in Dartmouth Park. Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin and Enfield MP Bambos Charalambous also donated and had their photos taken.
Ruth Davison, CEO of Refuge, said: “Jenny’s creative project helped raise awareness that for those living with an abuser, home is not a safe place. These vital funds enabled us to continue our work supporting survivors of domestic abuse during unprecedented times. Thank you to Jenny and to everyone that got involved and donated.”
JustGiving made Smith one of ITS "Lockdown Legends" and she was handed a Points of Light award - a government scheme to recognise one person per day who is doing good for their community.
Alexandra Palace CEO Emma Dagnes said: "Jenny’s project is truly inspirational, raising funding and awareness for such an important cause. We are looking forward to welcoming her and our neighbours who posed for the portraits up to the Palace to celebrate the exhibition together.”
The Front Door Photo exhibition sees Smith's portraits printed onto giant cubes and displayed at the Phoenix Indoor Beer Garden near the Palm Court from September 9.
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