Week 9
Photographic essays.
Part 1
Photographic essays or stories use images to convey a story or an idea. World press photo org has an annual photojournalism competition for both stories and single images.
Although we are asked to choos a story (series of images ) one single really gets to me as I live this every day so I have 2 stories and one image.
1
Reborn
These were taken by Karolina Jonderko from Poland
The first image that drew me to this photo story looked like something from the old institution days. When babies were lined up for adoption and care. In this case we are lead in to the world of reborn dolls where they have become something to fill the missing gap in a woman’s life where she cannot or does not have a babe of her own to “mother”. The stories in these images look all the world as portraits of real mothers and babies it is only in knowing and reading the description of the images that one realises that theses baby dolls are in fact filling the hole in the sole of a woman or family that has lost a baby, or pregnancy. Or that those little lumps of silicon carefully and lovingly give healing to some who just want the baby they never could have.
As a mother I don’t even pretend to relate to those women but I know the sadness of loosing a child and I have comforted family and friends who are so desperate to have a child that they are unable to function because of it. In the most non judgemental but also empathic way Karolina captures all these feelings and sees something good in these reborn dolls.
2
Australia’s bushfire crisis
Two images in the story by Mathew Abbot really intrigued me more then the others the first one where a kangaroo is trying to escape the flames juxtaposed against a burning house and the rest of this image is just flames! This shows the ferocity and impact towards both wildlife and property that is inherent in all wild fire.
The other was the waterfall from a helicopter landing on a spot fire showing the immense power of those vehicles, even though it is not seen in the image, and the waterfall. I have never seen the end of that stream of water before only ever the water bending sucked up and taken away.. a powerful group of images that shows the devastation of the early part of this 2020bush fires. The next year Mathew has a follow up story about indigenous bush fire control.
COVID-19 first responder.
Sorry this image is worth more than a thousand words at least to me. When I saw her I felt her face and the grime of all the sweat form a shift in PPE. Covid is far from over the public just got bored and moved on. Ivan Macias took this image of a doctor with out a name. I know she is wearing freshly applied comfeel over her nose and I know it will stay there 5 days. I know comfeel is usually placed on the sacrum ( the bony part just above the crack in the bottom) to preserve skin integrity in the bed and chair bound elderly. Yet the whole health workforce now uses this to protect our faces from pressure areas for the mask,
Part 2 my own photoessay/story.
I have 6 images from a night shift during the height of Covid. That I took just one night shift to get to know my camera. Yet I have been wanting to use them some how and this was the perfect situation.
COVID has not left is it still as bad as ever though we are better at living with it.
Just like flu it still kills and causes all sorts of problems for it victims.
The front line still wears all the gear every day just not all day. Those masks remain. Also covid is not just in the cities it really has come out bush.
Oh there are just the 4 of us. Until a month before that there were 3. One in ED.
So here is
Covid rural style.
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| This is Annette she came over to help us from south Australia. She is remote area nurse on night shift the ward. She is a song bird and her knowledge and compassion is beautiful |
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| This is Kevin he is a nursing legend in the Murrumbidgee. He came out of retirement to come boost our numbers his experience is epic and he became a mentor and friend whom I chat to regularly now he has sorta properly retired. |
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| That nights ED crew we had just been granted 2 nurses on shift at night . Until that week we were on our own , our town has drug and violence issues that permeate the outback. Never alone is another mantra from nurses that came from the pandemic years. |
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| This is Cristian another amazing accomplished nurse and adventurer. I love this image of him, contemplating moire choices over a recently vacated bed. |
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| And off they/we go to another moment. Where our tiny team took LUCAS I cannot show in this medium. |
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| But it broke Cristian. |
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