Journalist and The Quality Times curator Kavi Guppta.

A WEBSITE launched by a local journalist and radio presenter is providing a peek through the curtains to see how Western Australians have been living while locked down through the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Quality Times was the brainchild of Radio Fremantle’s Mate Date presenter Kavi Guppta, who has invited people to upload photos, videos and sound grabs of their daily lives; capturing the moments that don’t make headlines but will be gold for sociologists in years to come.

“This is an incredibly unique moment in history; whether it’s the only one in our lifetime we’re yet to find out, but I would like us to reflect back on it in years to come,” Mr Guppta said.

Experience

Noting how the devastating bushfires of last summer had gone from dominating front pages to an afterthought, he hoped the Times would help people remember what living under the cloud of Covid-19 had been like and what we could take from the experience.

Mr Guppta said he hoped people continued adding contributions even as WA’s restrictions eased, saying the recovery was also an important part of the corona experience.

He’s noted that women had been the major contributors to the site, but says many were doing it “for the men as well”.

“This is a display of how familial this town is, and it’s been incredibly interesting to see the levels of connectedness,” he said, noting how a single submission could reveal layer upon layer of relationships.

The site follows Fremantle as it heads into shutdown and people start working from home, finding ways to pass the time, or dressing up to express their moods and activities.

• Amelia Smoker found the gloomy weather matched her mood.

UWA learning designer Liberty Cramer posted a picture of her first day working from home, saying the experience provided her with an “overwhelming feeling of relief”.

Ms Cramer said she’d been on leave and practicing social distancing before having to go ack into the office for a few days.

“By the time they let us work from home I was so keyed up about the risks that being sent home made me feel so much safer,” she said.

Lisa Wynne found the experience a bit isolating: “We have the option of going to work and I plan to do that next week for a change of scenery and hopefully higher productivity.” 

Amelia Smoker headed to the top of Clontarf Hill with a rug to capture a sunset, but instead found the spitting rain suited her sombre mood.

A traveller by nature, she’d returned to Fremantle in the middle of the pandemic and said friends had been incredibly supportive as she struggled with her situation.

She’s gearing up to return the favour “when this eventually hits – we’ve got a long way to go.”

by STEVE GRANT and MIA WAGENAAR