Frontline nurse, photographer and rapper captures surreal reality of Covid-19

She and her colleagues have been battling on the frontline against Covid, facing fear each day, holding the hands of the dying, struggling to control their own emotions while facing the horrors of what this virus can do each day.

Hannah is also a photographer and decided to document what she knows will be remembered as a seismic moment in time, when the world changed forever because of a virus,  in what seemed like one apocalyptic instant.

So she shot ICU doctors, nurses, colleagues of all kinds as they went about their day and the images were so profound they were picked up by esteemed contemporary artist and former Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry for his Channel 4 show, ‘Grayson’s Art Club’, on which they featured twice.

The masked faces, the eyes of tired intent, expressions of grief, the still surreal bulk of hazmat suits; each picture is an eloquent moment of the hell of the unfolding pandemic.

Grayson went on to commission her to create more images for an episode of the show entitled Britain in Lockdown. 

Aside from this the multi-talented nurse also composed and delivered a rap for a lead song on a new album, the Song Club, dedicated to front line workers, entirely inspired by Hannah’s photographs and performed by a multitude of respected artists and songwriters including Nick Heyward, Graham Gouldman, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Mark Nevin, Julia Fordham, Robert Vincent, Judie Tzuke, Kimmie Rhodes, Judith Owen and Kathryn Williams - who have used their time in lockdown to document a poignant moment in time.

The album, now available to buy online was curated by Squeeze co-founder Chris Difford. The latter is a Grammy nominated and double Ivor Novello Award winning lyricist.

“I first saw Hannah’s photography on Grayson Perry’s ‘Art Club’. Lockdown provided some great TV moments and this was one of them. Inspired by her work I asked all of my co-writing chums to use her photographs as inspiration for songwriting. Together we have created a body of work to raise funds for the frontline workers, it has been so inspiring to hear the results”, says Difford.

“Songwriters have been in lockdown like everyone else and collectively we have dark stages and an unsure future regarding live performances, so this has been something to focus on by way of embracing the amazing work of the NHS and frontline workers” continues Difford. “My aim is to document this strange time we are living in and I hope bring inspiring songs to the ears of many.”

Working on the Frontline, performed by BAFTA-nominated actor and singer Jessie Buckley’s band, Jessie and The Leonards, is a defiant attempt to describe the sacrifices and challenges made by medical staff every day, and it is surprisingly upbeat even as it talks of entering the danger zone wearing a ‘space suit’, subsisting on little sleep and operating under relentless pressure. Written by Kate St John and Neill MacColl, at the centre of the song Hannah delivers a searing attack on government refusal to offer nurses a pay rise even as they maintain we must Save Our NHS.

“We want to see a pay rise that reflects the importance of what we do,” says Hannah adamantly.

“Throughout Covid the clapping from the general public was really sweet, it’s appreciated, we love the support from the general public, but it didn’t translate into any kind of increased pay packet for the risks we take. I mean in the House of Commons they clapped when it was decided nurses and junior doctors were not getting a pay rise.

“They could act with impunity and so they did. But it is a hard decision to understand at this time. It was a solemn day in work when it happened. With all of the clapping and the mood of appreciation for NHS staff, we were shocked it did not translate to increased wages for us.

“One of my ICU doctor colleagues is still so angry about it.”

She adds: “I hope that the voices of all the unsung heroes, their efforts and sacrifices are heard in this music. For me this record is a thank you to all my colleagues on the frontline, from the porters and domestics, to the doctors and nurses, I’ll never forget how we all stood side-by-side on the frontline fighting this illness together.”

Hannah talks of her colleagues and friends picking up Covid; she was one of the lucky ones who remained unscathed. There was a procession for one of the nurses who died after contracting the virus just recently: “Every day you know you are facing that risk,” adds Hannah. “When I see Boris on the news saying Save Our NHS and I know how under- resourced and stretched we are, it makes me so angry. Boris, put your money where your mouth is!”

Hannah captures the surreal landscape of Covid in hospital wards so well; the weird PPE, staff frantically working together to get the job done; the endless masks and protective suits that do make people look like earth-bound astronauts; the ventilators; the danger signs; the distances imposed between people who once sat together so closely, never imagining a virus could so undermine human proximity.

Hannah was a photographer before she became a health professional. Her ambition had been to work for Medecins Sans Frontieres, to travel and photograph international situations of illness and crisis that needed to be documented and recorded. “War zones, famines - it might feel inappropriate to capture them but how else do we remember the seismic events that shape our history?”

She has now done this for the Covid pandemic instead. The age of the face mask, visor and keeping your distance; an age none of us could ever have anticipated.

”The insignia of Covid is everywhere. It never ceases to feel strange.”

Like so many of us she worries immensely about the impending possibility of a second lockdown.

“I do understand that obviously the Covid cases have risen, but I have also seen first-hand the mental health cases that have risen in the hospital with alarming frequency. People are going crazy. That worries me. Normal life has been suspended. Normal interaction is not happening and that is really affecting people.

“Obviously Covid is awful and I want us to live in a healthy world. But this is having such a bad impact elsewhere on our health service. Two of my friends have passed away from cancer since the start of lockdown. People with so many other illnesses are being affected by this.

“Sometimes I feel that we aren’t actually looking at the full picture. The number of children who have gone missing; the rise in domestic abuse cases; the patients who have died of other illnesses awaiting treatment; we’ve seen children coming in who are ill from malnutrition or neglect because they are living in difficult family situations and don’t have the same support from social services that they once did.”

Deepa Korea, Royal College of Nursing foundation director, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Hannah and everyone involved in the Song Club album project – donations to the RCN Foundation Covid-19 Support Fund will make a huge difference to the many frontline nurses, midwives and health care support workers who are continuing to make an invaluable contribution at the very forefront of the pandemic. Support from the project will not only help those individuals who may be experiencing personal hardship as a result of Covid, but will also help to address some of the psychological implications associated with working on the frontline at this difficult time.” Proceeds to RCN can be made at www.rcnfoundation.org.