Lending a hand. Duchess Kate announced the beginning of a brand new community initiative to demonstrate the power of photography amid the pandemic.
“We’ve all seen some incredible images out there and heard some amazing stories — some desperately sad stories, but also some really uplifting ones as well,” the 38-year-old Duchess of Cambridge explained during an appearance on Britain’s This Morning on Thursday, May 7. “I really hope that through a project like this, we might be able to showcase some of those stories and to document and share a moment in time, I suppose, that we’re all experiencing.”
In collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery in the U.K., Kate’s Hold Still project invites people “to help capture the spirit, the hopes, the fears & feelings of the U.K. as we continue to deal with the coronavirus.” Open to all ages and artistic abilities, the creative portrait challenge hopes to provide a reflection of the ups and downs that communities across the country are feeling in this unique moment, including “resilience & bravery, humour & sadness, creativity & kindness, and human tragedy & hope.”
Those who submit their photos will have a chance to be one of 100 artists featured in a one-of-a-kind digital exhibit opening this August. The project aims to focus on three themes — Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal, and Acts of Kindness — and will judge entries based on the emotion they convey rather than the technical skill they possess.
Throughout her royal tenure, Kate has made her love for photography widely known. One week before announcing her new venture, royal family photographer Samir Hussein admitted that the royal mother of three has become a “really keen photographer” in her own right.
“You can see from the pictures she takes that she’s better, certainly better than your average person on the streets,” Hussein told Us Weekly exclusively. “She’s got a good eye, and she’s a good photographer. I’m impressed by her pictures, absolutely.”
In December, Kate gave fans a closer look at life with husband Prince William and their children, Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2. More recently, she shared a handful of candid snapshots of her little ones to celebrate Charlotte and Louis’ birthdays.
“Instagram vs. Reality,” the royal family joked alongside a pair of pictures of Louis covered in rainbow paint on April 23.
