Introduction
Slater King - Sep 2020 London The first time that I entered the hospital, I must say, I was scared. We’d been seeing in news reports from all around the world how health care services were being overwhelmed, death figures were sky rocketing, and there was a palpable ‘end of the world’ feeling scratching away at our senses. George Floyd’s murder had just sparked global protests, and while Trump hadn’t yet sent unidentifable paramilitaries onto the streets to snatch people, American police were driving their vehicles into crowds of pedestrians, and were brutally targeting peaceful protests. Here in this country, while Johnson’s government hadn’t yet said on record that they would readily break international law, the PPE shortages were still ongoing, Covid rules were in flux, and the government’s most senior aide had tested his eyesight with a 60 mile drive in the country - which to many, signalled the end of lockdown. And so walking into the hospital, I remember feeling worried and scared. The climate controlled corridors, the shinny floors and the soft tread shoes, all heightened a feeling of otherworldliness. The usual timpani clatter of a working hospital was muted by the absence of the patients and their relatives wandering the floors, the staccato sounding children noticeable by their absence. The beds swished past, but only accompanied by sky blue walls and white ceilings. And I kept asking the people that I photographed, how did they will their feet, one after another, to carry them here, day after day? Why weren’t they at home? Why didn’t they choose to shield themselves, as most at that time were doing? I recorded our conversations, transcribed them, and edited them to make these ‘as told to’ stories. Their answers are as varied as the people, but perhaps from this collection of points and individuals, a picture floats free. And that would be of their ability to care for other people. Whether they were porters or surgeons, that mere fact required them to put their own well-being behind that of others. Their belief that caring for others is the right, proper and just, it seems to me, led to their actions. I hope that this project does not only do justice to those within - the failing of which is one of my greatest fears but also shows the scale and numbers of people who are caring and decent, who are kind, compassionate, honest and skilled. To those people, my greatest thanks for helping be a part of this collection, and to them, my deepest admiration.