Our first Covid summer

I’m working on a new project at the moment. During lockdown I was pretty much unable to take any photos because the streets were deserted (and obviously I couldn’t leave the house anyway). So by the time the restrictions began to ease in July, I was desperate to see the sea and start taking photos again. So I’ve spent this summer visiting as many different Welsh beaches as possible, with my two girls, and sometimes my husband too when he wasn’t working.

We did loads of short trips away, visiting the incredible coastline of North, South and West Wales, staying in guest houses, yurts, shepherd's huts and cheap hotels – whatever was available. The two-metre social distancing rule still applied, face masks were worn by many people, and restaurants were not allowing diners inside, with many closed altogether. Some beaches were generally far busier than I had ever seen them, while others were deserted. So, I’m now working on a new book of Welsh beaches, during the first summer of the pandemic.

The way people have appreciated beaches has been very different this year, after the craziness of the lockdown. Things might have changed permanently, but the beaches themselves are the same as ever, which I find very reassuring.

Blue Lagoon at Abereiddi, Wales, August 2020