Emil Lombardo

During the Covid-19 lockdown, I cycled to different parts of London to photograph trans and non-binary people outside of their homes. An Unending Sunday morning is a photographic documentation of our unique experiences and feelings of isolation, separation and struggle. Although this body of work focuses on the effects of the global pandemic, it also acts as an exploration of how these atemporal emotions exist outside of this specific period of time. The work could resemble a collection of spontaneous encounters with individuals who gaze at the lens outside or near their homes. These large-format black and white photographs thus suggest a potential parallel reality, in which these portraits might or might not have been taken on a calm Sunday morning.

Between January and April 2021, I cycled 600 kilometres and photographed forty-five people. With each meeting and with each photograph I also delved into their stories and our shared experiences. The process of making this series was as significant as the results – from the email exchanges, to bike rides in challenging weather conditions, to the development of the films in my kitchen. The series also acted as a coping mechanism, a space for reflection and a way of remaining optimistic despite the challenges posed by the health crisis. The project’s title comes from this continuous and peculiar sense of time developed as a result of the pandemic – where each day of the week feels like a “never-ending Sunday morning”.