No doubt, healthcare workers are the frontline heroes who deserve recognition for their sacrifices. To honor their dedication, Hasselblad created an extensive piece depicting the struggles experienced.
Artists Sarah Cooper and Nina Gorfer, who are both Hasselblad Ambassadors in Sweden, collaborated with Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and with the members of the Intensive Care Unit, in particular, to create their visual piece titled "Delirium". The project depicts the pain the healthcare workers have battled through during the pandemic and still continue doing so. Cooper and Gorfer wanted to incorporate and represent the different types of health professionals who have been involved in carrying us through this pandemic, and as such the final piece depicts a mix of nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, and anesthesiologists.
The whole shooting process comprised of several steps and, firstly, both artists conducted interviews with the healthcare staff to better understand all stages of what happens to COVID-19 patients as they are brought to the hospital and what emotions are felt by the staff. After that, a photo studio was built at the hospital. Visually, both artists were inspired by Renaissance style lighting and posing, which resulted in creating somewhat of what could be described as a battle scene, while vibrant blue color robes were used as an accent.
The final stages in post-processing included deconstructing the image to then reconstruct it back into exactly what both artists had imagined as the final piece. They also note that if you closely look at the image, you will see that some of the subjects repeat in the collage, which is intentional and represents the continuous struggle and battle. Only 7 staff members were used to create this extensive piece.
The constructed photo studio didn't leave a lot of room for the artists and as such they used Hasselblad H6D-100c medium format camera combined with Hasselblad HC 50mm lens. Cooper and Gorfer had to accommodate the space and timings of the hospital so all the staff who participated in the shoot were photographed during a one-hour break time period.
Lead image used with the permission of Hasselblad and the article image used with the permission of Cooper & Gorfer.
Interesting project but it seemed like the lack of PPE on the crews part was peculiar.
Being a Hasselblad-er I saw this short video a few days ago. While I admire Cooper and Gorfer's creative conceptualism I have mixed feelings about the final product. Their style of over-the-top visual confection may be well-suited for selling luxury goods or womens' clothing lines but it seems a bit offensively self-indulgent here. The visual metaphor does not, to my eyes, salute health care workers struggling to keep ahead of the worst epidemic the world has seen in a century. To me it makes the subject an opera scene, and one with only women at that (as typical of their feminist work). Nice Photoshop work but ...
Just my opinion.
For me this is another form of hand clapping the medical people at the sharp end of the covid desaster.
Pay them more money and give them all the PPE they need...
If the photographer is using the images to generate money for the medical people then all good otherwise its just a gag.
"Delirium, that embodies the Covid-19 pandemic, capturing the constant struggle of healthcare workers fighting through this historical tragedy."
Really? No!
At first I thought it looked quite pretty. But after a while it just looks like complete nonsense that has nothing to do with the normal everyday life of nursing staff. The posing, the faces, the clothes, the colours fit better on a glossy fashion magazine. The real world is suffering, shortness of breath and death! This is all about the photographers (and the brand, if you will) and not about the health workers. Actually, these health workers have all been abused or have allowed themselves to be abused.
It's a commercial for Hasselblad built on the deadly crisis and the many dead and suffering people. Happy nursing, happy dying and a lot to laugh! Shame on you! What a complete failure!
Pretentious BS.
Well. It seems there was much thinking and working to adapt to the situation in which health workers are:
https://www.coopergorfer.com/work/utopia?itemId=lkd83cwagghazrhe84lmkmth...
https://www.coopergorfer.com/work/utopia?itemId=b2lws56l154ftyakb6pq02ta...
Wow! Very creative! Great work !