In 1937 three Cambridge University students decided they would attempt to measure the population's feelings and observations about everyday life in Britain, rather than relying on media reports.
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Using diaries and questionnaires, poet and journalist Charles Madge, filmmaker Humphrey Jennings, and anthropologist Tom Harrisson, along with other collaborators, set out to capture what they thought would be the true mood and feelings of the British populace.
They called their project 'Mass Observation', and it is still running today.
The group aimed to create an 'anthropology of ourselves', according to their current website: a study of the everyday lives of Britons.
The collaborators set about conducting diaries among the people of London, while in the town of Bolton there was an active recording program.
'A team of investigators went into a variety of public situations: meetings, religious occasions, sporting and leisure activities, in the street and at work, and recorded people's behaviour and conversations in as much detail as possible,' Mass Observation says.
'The material they produced is a varied documentary account of life in Britain. The 'National Panel of Diarists' was composed of people from all over Britain who either kept diaries or replied to regular open-ended questionnaires sent to them by the team in the London office.'
Inspired by the Mass Observation project, the Ballarat International Foto Biennale (BIFB) is partnering with FORMAT International Photography Festival and Gallery of Photography Ireland to create a visual record of the current COVID-19 pandemic on Instagram, using the hashtag #massisolationAUS.
The project invites Australians to share their photographs and more to build an online visual archive 'of this extraordinary moment in our history.'
"2020 is fast becoming a hugely significant moment in time," BIFB artistic director Fiona Sweet says.
"The explosion in smartphone technology has opened up the world of photography to more people than ever before, and we wanted to capture the COVID-19 event in a meaningful way.
"I know that photographic artists will find new ways to interpret the world right now, but I encourage anyone to submit their ideas and photographs. It's an opportunity to find lightness, to share experiences and build our faith in humanity's ability to survive,' says Sweet.
Sweet has recently returned from the United States, and subsequently has experienced quarantine.
"I've been in self isolation for 14 days and experienced firsthand the loneliness of being by yourself," she says.
"It has been the digital world that has allowed me to stay connected."
The Mass Isolation Australia project is free to take part and open to all across the world. Use the hashtag #massisolationAUS on instagram to take part.
