Covid-19 graffiti, Glenmore St, Thorndon, Wellington

This photograph of graffiti in Wellington was taken during the first Covid-19 pandemic lockdown when New Zealand was in Alert Level 4 (11.59pm on 25 March to 11.59pm on 27 April 2020). It was one of many scenes captured by Te Papa photographers who took their cameras with them when they went on local walks during lockdown.

The message was repurposed graffiti which originally said 'NZ stand together' in response to the Christchurch terror attacks on 15 March 2019 when 51 people were killed. One year later, someone added brackets around 'together' and added '2m apart' in reference to official guidelines on social distancing when out and about.