Photographer Mark Condren: My daughter’s first communion should have been a special day, but Covid stole it from her

As photographers during the lockdown we were allowed to work and were covering the story in many different ways. Then this moment landed on my door. My daughter, Emma, had been so excited about her first holy communion. She had been shopping with her granny and picked out the perfect dress. She couldn’t wait to celebrate her special day with family and friends — and then it was taken away from her.

I was in two worlds; one as a photographer and one as a dad. To be honest, there was never a thought in my head that I wouldn’t pick up my camera that day — it’s the most natural thing for me to do. But as a father, it was emotional at times. I remember her nerves and there was a tug of war between the two roles.

There was one particular moment when she was looking at the television and I was over in the corner, clicking away when I probably should have been beside her, kneeling down or holding her hand.

I remember getting one or two dirty looks from the corner of her eye as I was clicking. At the time I remember I felt really bad, but I had to keep going. The story wasn’t over. We were in the middle of it.

Another moment that stood out was when my neighbour came out and handed Emma a card, and almost instinctively she kept her distance. There were no hugs. By that stage the mindset on the importance of social distancing had been ingrained. And I still don’t think we have managed to fully go back to how we were before. We don’t hug or shake hands as much.

So that moment with my neighbour is probably my favourite shot of all. I remember being struck by how, in the middle of all of this, my neighbour still didn’t forget her little card.

The other moment that stands out is the snapshot of Emma painting her nails. Like all except one of these pictures, it is being published today for the first time. I’m glad about that. The fifth anniversary of Covid has given me a chance to put Emma on centre stage, where she belongs.

Big life challenges like the pandemic happen and you can’t totally protect your children from them, but I hope something like this never happens again.

This weekend will be Emma’s first time seeing these pictures, so I’ll be curious to see her reaction. She has never told me if the pandemic had a big impact on her, but it will give us a chance to talk about it.