Why I . . . take photographs

Abstract

Jon Williamson talks to Kathy Oxtoby about how his love of photography led to him documenting the covid-19 pandemic Countless words have been written about the pandemic—but the photographs taken of doctors and patients during that time were able to communicate in a way that words could not. When covid-19 hit, anaesthetic registrar Jon Williamson used his photographic skills to document it from his perspective working at the Whittington Hospital in north London. His images, some of which were reproduced in the national media, capture the experiences at the hospital at that time. They include a baby born by caesarean section with the mother wearing a facemask, and a simple close up of a colleague coming out of intensive care, whose emotions mirrored his own. The experience of taking such images is complex, says Williamson. “You have a heavy sense of purpose—a large sense of duty to convey the story of what is going on. At times it was emotionally challenging, but there was also a …