Healthcare workers honoured in portraits marking pandemic anniversary
To mark the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdown, a University of Sunderland academic has launched her new photography series that pays tribute to healthcare workers past, present and future.
Johannah Churchill, Lecturer in Contemporary Photography at the University, has launched Future Care, a series of portraits dedicated to healthcare workers that invites viewers to honour the past, celebrate progress and imagine a hopeful future.
The series features her iconic image Melanie, March 2020, which featured in the Princess of Wales’ Hold Still photography project at the National Portrait Gallery in 2020 and was part of a mural in Manchester over the pandemic.
Two additional portraits of healthcare students from the University taken by Johannah have been added to Melanie, March 2020 to create the Future Care series, which was revealed at an event at the John Dawson Sciences Complex at the University on 20 March 2025.
Johannah, a former nurse herself, said: “The Future Care Series acknowledges the deep impact that caring for people has on someone.
“It’s brave for the University to acknowledge some of the more difficult aspects of care because I think they’re often overlooked – certainly when you think about how images of NHS workers looked pre-pandemic.
“This series creates space to remember the pandemic lockdowns, where we really needed to look after each other and reminds us of how we need to continue to support one another into the next generation of healthcare workers.
“I find it really important to not brush over some of the harder aspects of caring for people and acknowledge and face them.
“Photography is able to hold that space, whatever the emotion, whatever the feelings that someone has encountered and allow them to exist – it’s okay to feel fear, loss, stress; we are allowed to falter and experience emotion. It is after all our humanity and empathy that makes us good at what we do.”
The series has been displayed in the University’s John Dawson Sciences Complex on its City Campus.
Abeni Adeyemi, who studies Medicine, and Aaron Harlow-Stephenson, who studies Paramedic Science and Out of Hospital Care, are featured in these portraits alongside Melanie, March 2020 to honour future healthcare workers.
Museum-quality prints will also be gifted to the healthcare students involved which have been framed using specialist equipment at Northern Centre of Photography by specialist digital technician Michael Daglish.
Sir David Bell, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive at the University, said: “It has been five years since so many of us were separated from our loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Reflecting on the past, it has never been more important to remember and honour the sacrifice and dedication of the many doctors, nurses, healthcare workers and NHS staff that went above and beyond during that time.
“The Future Care series is testament to that resilience, dedication, and compassion of healthcare workers alongside the vital role of medical institutions, and the enduring impact of education in shaping the future of care.”
Over Johannah’s career, many of her portraits have focused on healthcare workers and capturing the impact that caring for others has on the individual.
Johannah leads her NHS Darkroom project in partnership with the Newcastle Hospitals Charity that gives staff at Newcastle hospitals the opportunity to enhance their skills in photography.
In previous iterations, staff have been given cameras and were invited to take analogue black and white photographs to develop themselves with help from Johannah and the team at the Northern Centre of Photography in the darkroom at the University.
This year photographs will highlight the creative hobbies and interests of Newcastle Hospitals staff and be on display in a new exhibition NHS Darkrooms: Come As You Really Are at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art from 17 May 2025.
Looking to the future, Johannah will also be passing the baton on with an open-call competition that gives students at the University a chance to add their own portraits to the Future Care series.
This competition is for all undergraduate students studying photography at the University’s Sunderland campuses to help develop existing work or create something new featuring healthcare or related subject students.
Winners of the competition will receive a £1,000 commission, mentorship and coaching from the University’s Northern Centre of Photography and their work displayed on Campus.
This and the Future Care series have been made possible through the generous support from honorary graduate and long-time supporter of the University, Mike Davies CBE.
Find out more about the Future Care competition here: https://alumni.sunderland.ac.uk/Keep-Informed/News/future-care-open-call-competition