The Davis family from Bromsgrove who couldn’t be together this Valentine’s, won the chance to be part of a national photography competition that brought them together digitally, courtesy of OPPO.

Susan, Rebecca and Rhys Davis were remotely captured on their OPPO smartphones prizes, by acclaimed photographer, Pixie Levinson, as they cooked up a storm for Valentine’s Evening. Rebecca entered the OPPO competition, with a request to have a Valentine’s picture with her brother (Rhys), who missed her birthday because of lockdown, along with their Mother (Susan), who they hadn’t seen for over a year as she was high risk / shielding.

Research from smartphone brand OPPO revealed that Brits wanted time with friends and family (78%) this Valentine’s, compared to just 10% who said their partners as lockdown continued to keep our wider social circles socially distanced. Many Brits haven’t seen friends or family since Christmas, staying in touch via social media, video or phone calls and as a result, nearly half (49%) now feel more positive about technology now than before the pandemic.

In a series of quirky remote photoshoots with separated Brits from across the UK, Pixie digitally bought all kinds of couples together from friends, family members to long-distance lovers. Friendship was captured between best mates Katie, from Epsom and Shannon, from Banstead, as well as Matt and Alice (both from Plymouth) who have spent lockdown playing Call of Duty. 

Lockdown love was in the air between Grace from Kidderminster and Matthew from Liverpool, Alia from Rotherham and her boyfriend Hashim from Cheshire, as well as Joanna and Adrian (both based in London), who met in Warsaw seven years ago.