TEMPLE: COVID FRONT LINE
At the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic doctors at the Temple University Health System in North Philadelphia placed a call to colleagues in Wuhan, China. The recommendation was to turn the entire eight story Boyer pavilion into a COVID Hospital. Along with the existing clinical staff, other workers throughout the hospital were to be re deployed to help in the fight. Visiting areas became break rooms and doctor offices became patient rooms. I witnessed unprecedented bravery and compassion coming from what seemed to be a bonded team tasked to do the impossible. These portraits were shot while Nurses were on call or in some cases just outside a patient's room. I noticed when the mask covered the face, the eyes took on a stronger meaning. Many of these same nurses would explain how difficult the emotional toll had been on them especially when asked to be the spokesperson for a patient trying to communicate their goodbyes to loved ones.