New Zealand Herald multi-media journalist Mike Scott has been compiling a visual diary of the Covid-19 lockdown, using images shot by the Herald news team. At the beginning of the lockdown he explained why this difficult time could also turn out to be a rare opportunity.
When New Zealanders went into lockdown at 11.59pm on Wednesday March 25, we began the biggest social upheaval this country has experienced in peacetime.
The economic and cultural impact of Covid-19 is unprecedented, both on a national and global scale.
Witnessing such history and sharing it with our readers is the essential job of
visual journalists. New Zealand Herald photographers and videographers will therefore be capturing images of the lockdown for its duration.
It is an odd assignment, as the main character of the story is invisible. We cannot see the Covid-19 virus, only its effects. Yet the greatest impact so far is for most New Zealanders to be consigned to their homes and to be virtually unapproachable.
City centres, highways, public transport, playgrounds, beaches, sports and public facilities have been deserted. The empty spaces left behind make incredible scenes in their own right.
We still don't know what kind of images we will capture as the lockdown continues, and what will change before the curtain comes up. But we'll continue to be there for as long as we can safely record what is happening.
The Herald team have been faithfully recording those images ever since - right up until the celebration of the move to level 3 on the morning of Tuesday April 28. Here are the updated images of a time in our history that we'll never forget.
