Spencer’s latest personal series.

Whilst documenting life during lockdown, there were a few sub plots that emerged. A theme that seemed to be at the forefront of public discourse, after it was announced, was fitness. Being as it was the only excuse to leave the house and people found themselves with a lot more time on their hands (and perhaps the ominous presence of an approaching pandemic), the nation suddenly seemed more concerned with getting in shape than ever before and innovative ways of doing so. 

Rumour has it a tradesman (carpenter or welder, depending on who I talked to) from Belarus took it upon himself to build an outdoor public gym from things he found around the woodlands of Hackney Marshes; repurposed logs and old scraps of material, when the other park apparatus were cordoned off. It quickly became a communal space for those brave enough to share a barbell in gloved, sanitised hands. As gyms are set to re-open this weekend the future of this makeshift weight room is uncertain. Perhaps the next time kids come and break a weight, it won’t get repaired and it will once again become some quiet forgotten woodland glade. Perhaps the birds and the squirrels will remember?