One of the pictures by Andy Scaysbrook which can be seen in the Unmasked exhibition at Lighthouse Poole from May 18 to June 19.
Published: May 17, 2021 | Updated: 18th May 2021
An acclaimed photographic exhibition revealing – and celebrating – the faces of health workers fighting the battle against Covid-19 in Dorset opens at Lighthouse Poole today, May 18.
Unmasked is a project by photographer Andy Scaysbrook, journalist Emma Pittard and designer John Nesbitt, pictured right.
As first reported on Dorset Biz News, it was inspired by the fact that to fight an invisible enemy, healthcare heroes had to make themselves invisible behind masks, gowns and gloves.
At the heart of the project is a series of portraits by Andy, capturing faces on the frontline in hospitals and medical centres across Dorset.
Together with Emma and John, he shone a light on many of the men and women behind the masks.
Andy said: “This exhibition is a sample of the work we achieved during lockdown while respecting social-distancing guidelines and without having to travel too far from our Dorset homes.
“From simply talking to friends who are key workers to being featured in The Times and The Sunday Times, this project keeps gaining!”
Suzy Rushbrook, Arts in Hospital Manager at Dorset County Hospital, added: “Arts in Hospital has been proud to work with Andy, Emma and John on this project and we were delighted when they contacted us in the middle of lockdown.
“Art has an enormous impact on health and well-being and this is something people are becoming increasingly aware of, making collaborative projects like this invaluable.
“The hope is that this project will serve as an exercise in well-being and a morale booster for staff working all over the Dorset health sector; to show that their stories are being told and that people are listening, that they are truly appreciated and that this extraordinary time is being recorded.”
A book containing more photographs and full stories is in production, to raise funds for local NHS charities and to serve as a permanent record of these times.
It is being funded by NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group.
The book is expected to come out in summer.
Unmasked can be seen in the Top Floor Gallery at Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts, during opening hours.
The exhibition runs until Saturday June 19.
