RESTRICTED TRAVEL

Project undertaken February - May 2021 - Self-Published Book

During the third coronavirus lockdown and following the UK roadmap to recovery. I documented my own roadmap, living and creating a journey within the rules of restricted travel.

A busy promenade at Weston-super-Mare with people walking in the sun, featuring an older man in a straw hat and denim shirt in the foreground and the white towers of the Grand Pier in the background, by Matthew Morgan.

The first six weeks felt confining, as familiar surroundings became repetitive and emotionally restrictive. Feelings of isolation, frustration, and a sense of distance from loved ones were central to this period. As restrictions gradually eased, the project evolved into a journey towards the coast, a place of calm and personal significance, mirroring the slow return of everyday life.

The work captures subtle changes over twelve weeks as travel restrictions in England were gradually lifted. This project allowed me to reflect on resilience, movement, and the quiet shift back towards ‘normality’, highlighting how change often occurs gradually rather than all at once.

Front cover of the 'Restricted Travel' zine by Matthew Morgan, featuring the title in large white serif font centered over a deep blue and turquoise textured abstract painting.
A busy street scene in Cheltenham during the 2021 lockdown recovery, showing people walking and socializing in a public square, by Matthew Morgan for the series 'Restricted Travel'.
A woman in a bright red tracksuit standing on a grassy field in Portishead, holding two small tortoises in her hands while a black dog runs in the background, by Matthew Morgan.
A large, red vintage fire truck trailer with a 'FIRE' sign parked on a gravel driveway in front of a brick house with a green door (number 13), with a pile of cut logs in the foreground, by Matthew Morgan.
Two people sitting on a blue-framed wooden bench facing a vast, calm sea under a bright blue sky with white clouds in Portishead, by Matthew Morgan.
View through a window of an empty petrol station shop in Tewkesbury with bare red and white metal shelves and a reflection of bare trees and a green hill in the glass, by Matthew Morgan.
A man in a green winter coat and beanie holding a fishing rod stands on a grassy bank next to a lake with two white swans and a clubhouse in the background in Tewkesbury, by Matthew Morgan.
A large red sign with white text reading 'Danger Port area' stands in a grassy field next to a road leading toward a tall, concrete industrial grain elevator at Sharpness Docks, by Matthew Morgan.
A busy, sun-bleached beach scene at Weston-super-Mare in May 2021, featuring a mother holding a baby and a family sitting on the sand with strollers and beach toys, by Matthew Morgan.
A street-level view of a closed shop in Hereford with its large glass windows and doors completely covered from the inside with various newspaper pages during the 2021 lockdown, by Matthew Morgan.
A close-up view through a green vertical metal fence showing a single orange traffic cone sitting alone on a deserted green grass school field during the 2021 lockdown, by Matthew Morgan.
A busy funfair at Weston-super-Mare with colorful rides like the 'Midnight Express' in the background and a large red 'SOCIAL DISTANCING' sign in the foreground as people walk past on a wooden pier, by Matthew Morgan.
A large, angled glass greenhouse with weathered, mossy panes sitting at the edge of a wooded area near May Hill, with a wooden chair visible through the glass, by Matthew Morgan.
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A sunny day at Clevedon Marine Lake featuring people in wetsuits and casual clothes standing near several blue and white paddleboards on a concrete pier, with a child kicking a ball in the foreground and the muddy Severn Estuary in the background, by
A young man, Mason Townsend, stands on a sunlit green grass football pitch with one foot on a yellow soccer ball. He is wearing a black Spitfire t-shirt and shorts, with a white goalpost and a line of tall pine trees in the soft-focus background, by
A wide shot of Clevedon Marine Lake on a clear day, with two women standing in the water, a man in a blue folding chair looking at his phone on the pier, and various flags flying along a high sea wall in the background, by Matthew Morgan.
A pile of discarded household junk, including a broken white oven with its door open and rusted metal scraps, sitting in tall green grass in an industrial area of Sharpness, by Matthew Morgan.
Artist Matthew Morgan standing in a grassy garden, holding a massive 6-foot by 4-foot vertical canvas covered in deep, textured blue and white abstract painting, with a brick house in the background.