Medical student and photographer Matthew Thompson focused his lens on three radiographers as part of his photographic series Humans of the Pandemic.
While at Warwick Medical School last spring he was providing clinical support at the George Eliot Hospital and decided to photograph his colleagues because ‘it allows me to give something back to them.’
He eventually photographed 67 staff members, from chaplains and surgeons to radiographers, saying it made him realise how many healthcare staff were not properly recognised for their work.
The radiographers featured in Matthew’s series were Dawn Harrison, lead radiographer X-ray, Haleem Ahmed, lead radiographer interventional radiology, and Matthew Rayner, a band 6 fluoroscopy, intervention and cardiology radiographer.
Matthew said the photographer was particularly interested in how each of them had been affected by the pandemic.
‘Matthew wanted to see how our mindset had altered from the first day up to now and it got me thinking. I realised that at the beginning I was very apprehensive, even scared about coming to work. I remember driving to work thinking I'm going to come face to face today with a virus that could potentially kill me.
‘This was frightening, but 25 years of experience in radiography has taught me to evaluate each situation and adapt. I also knew that the junior staff would be feeling more threatened than me so it was very important to guide them with professionalism, calmness and compassion.’
He said the photo series had reminded them that ‘every staff member is a living cell in the body of the hospital. Nothing can function correctly without the support around it. It will make the public aware of all roles within a hospital and that we are humans with feelings.’
View the full Humans of the Pandemic exhibition online.
Pictured: (Above right) Matthew Rayner, a band 6 fluoroscopy, intervention and cardiology radiographer and (bottom right) Haleem Ahmed, lead radiographer interventional radiology.
