Why create Humans of the Pandemic?
Working on the respiratory (AKA COVID-19) ward at George Eliot Hospital has opened my eyes to the variety and selflessness of staff that care for patients every day and night. As a photographer alongside my medical studies, I’m always on the lookout for inspiring people whose story I can hear, see, and share. So naturally I saw my next project everywhere I looked – in between attempts to take patients’ blood or disposing of various bodily fluids from the red (positive) bays. An old friend suggested a name and Humans of the Pandemic was born.
I’m currently in the middle of photographing portraits of staff across the hospital, where I’m placing particular focus on roles who had to adapt, retrain or ramp up in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For those wearing PPE, I want to capture their face without it too, if possible. I’m featuring roles who are often neglected in similar projects, such as the cleaners, laboratory or bereavement teams who all contribute to every patient’s outcome and journey through the hospital. Each participant is being sent some questions along with their portraits to find out their thoughts and feelings.
My long history as a portrait and underwater photographer has set me up well for Humans of the Pandemic. The waterproof housing I use to photograph 10 metres below the surface has a smooth surface perfect for disinfecting with Clinell wipes or soap and running water. This saves wiping every nook, cranny, button, and glass of my camera each time I change environment. I also sourced a light-wand that gives an easy-to-clean, unobtrusive yet flattering highlight for portraits of staff in their natural, often fluorescently lit habitats. The infection control team loves me.
On this project, I’m working with the hospital communications team and collaborating with Outex, the South California creators of my underwater housing who have sent me an expensive glass part to expand my creative options. So far, I’ve photographed over 30 fascinating staff members from across the hospital that I was unlikely to have met and learnt about otherwise.
Humans of the Pandemic has quickly snowballed with little signs of stopping. I’m amazed at the range of different people and roles working within it. I don’t want to leave anyone out but I’m conscious of my workload. I’m balancing it on the side of my ward assistance work, my SSC2 research into out-of-hospital cardiac arrest airway management, and my second-year medical studies. But the interactions, photographs, and insight I’m gathering make it all very worthwhile. I’m hoping a press release and eventual exhibition will go some way to providing recognition and a spotlight to some of those incredible people who have looked after our friends and family at a small district general hospital during this unique and challenging time.
