Natalia González Acosta

Clear Nights

This series of photographs document my last few months in Cambridge, the small city I called home for the four years of my degree. Cambridge holds a special place in my heart and I was not expecting to say goodbye to it under such strange circumstances, the pandemic. Instead, I was expecting a degree show, a graduation and a celebration with my loved ones that would have closed a chapter of my life.

However, that did not quite happen. With the pandemic came uncertainty, which affected us all. It personally put a halt to my fast-paced life; I suddenly had nowhere to be, nothing to prepare and no graduation to look forward to.

It eventually felt somewhat natural to go on night walks around my area and I began to bring my medium format camera and tripod on the nights that I felt consumed by isolation. Creating these images, that encapsulate the idea of loneliness, allowed me to acknowledge and process my conflicted feelings. Because although I was aware of my luck to have a safe home, I was equally disheartened to have to say goodbye to it in such an unexpected way.