A POIGNANT photograph of a Musselburgh man features in a landmark Covid-19 lockdown digital exhibition launched by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Former Honest Lad and Musselburgh Grammar School pupil Barry Grant, 45, who now lives in Cockermouth in Cumbria, is seen watching his beloved grandmother’s funeral live online after the virus claimed her life in May.

Unable to attend her funeral at Edinburgh’s Seafield Crematorium in person due to lockdown restrictions, he appears in a photograph ‘Funeral Heartbreak’, which shows him sitting suited – with black tie – at his computer.

The image, taken by his partner Bonnie Sapford, 36, has been included in the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition ‘Hold Still’, which was unveiled by its patron, the Duchess of Cambridge.

The photographic display features 100 portraits selected from 31,598 submissions during the project’s six-week entry period.

Focused on three core themes – Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal, and Acts of Kindness – the images present a record of shared and individual experiences.

Hold Still invited people of all ages from across the UK to submit a photographic portrait which they had taken during lockdown.

The project aimed to capture and document the spirit, mood, hopes, fears and feelings of the nation.

The judging panel assessed the images on the emotions and experiences they conveyed rather than on their photographic quality or technical expertise.

From virtual birthday parties, handmade rainbows and community clapping to brave NHS staff, resilient key workers and people dealing with illness, isolation and loss, the images conveyed humour and grief, creativity and kindness, tragedy and hope – expressing and exploring both shared and individual experiences.

Barry and Bonnie, who originally comes from Leicester, met in Thailand.

Barry was a diving instructor there and Bonnie was on a working holiday. They decided to settle in Cumbria as Bonnie’s parents retired to the area.

Barry now works with James Walker & Co in Cockermouth which manufactures diving seals.

His mum Irene Grant, now a Prestonpans resident, said: “My mum Mary passed away due to Covid-19 in May when travel was restricted, as were the numbers who could attend funerals.

“Barry, her first grandchild, was not able to join us at that time as he lives in the Lake District. It was heartbreaking not being able to hug him.

“Bonnie took the photo without him being aware and sent it on to me. I thought it so poignant, heartbreaking and dignified that I entered it with his permission – and the judging panel obviously thought the same.”

A selection of the photographs featured in the digital exhibition will also be shown in towns and cities across the UK later in the year.

International law firm Taylor Wessing is supporting the Hold Still project in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Go to npg.org.uk/hold-still