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“[Alone Together shows] a wider scope of the action and emotion being experienced at a hospital during the pandemic: not just the victim or sick person, but a doctor on his knees on the phone, showing a little more of all the activity going on behind the curtain.” —Keith Grieger

“I thought Alone Together deserved special recognition because it is a deeply intimate and humanistic look at a global crisis that still has ramifications on various communities three years after its start.” —Danielle A. Scruggs 

Photojournalist Leah Hennel has been documenting Alberta’s frontline workers and the COVID-19 patients they care for as an Alberta Health Services staff photographer since the early days of the pandemic. Her book Alone Together: A Pandemic Photo Essay showcases the lives of those who refused to give up in the face of adversity.

Comments by Leah Hennel:

How long have you been working in photography? Since I was sixteen years old. As a high school student, I did a work experience at a local daily newspaper, which got me hooked on photojournalism. I loved the idea of telling real stories visually. Everyone has a story. I took photojournalism in college and have worked in the field ever since.

Tell us about your experiences shooting the photographs that ended up in Alone Together. What was it like working with Alberta Health Services, the integrated healthcare system in Canada’s Alberta province? My experience documenting something historic was one of mixed emotions. I wanted to capture Albertans—those who were members of the healthcare team, those who were patients and their families, and those who were adapting to life outside of healthcare. I was documenting what were literally the worst moments of a person’s life, and I wanted to portray patients and staff with dignity. It was a very collaborative process with the people I photographed, which is different from other assignments I have done. And it was a very emotional project because I lived through the COVID-19 pandemic with my family as well. So, this assignment really hit close to home because I couldn’t just walk away from it. I chose to do the book in black and white—except for the last photo—because I felt it took the distraction of bright colors away and let the viewer focus more on the content. I think it gives the series a timeless feel. The final photo, in color, shows Louise Smith, a woman I met during the pandemic, celebrating her 98th birthday by Facetiming her friends and family while at home in Calgary—an optimistic note to end on.

How was it working with publishing company Rocky Mountain Books on Alone Together? This is my second book with the Rocky Mountain Books team. The first was Along the Western Front, a photobook on rural life in Alberta. So, doing a second book was a seamless process, and they came up with the name Alone Together. Their title and cover design worked really well to capture the pandemic in Alberta. As always, I appreciated their support.

What kind of equipment did you use while shooting these photos? I kept it really simple, relying on my Canon R5 and a 35mm f1.8 lens. Patients and staff are more at ease when they don’t see a bunch of gear being lugged around. Plus, I was photographing in a working hospital, so I needed to stay out of the way.

Has anything surprised you about the response to the book or the images? I was shocked how one photo—Dr. Simon Demers-Marcil, an intensive-care physician, kneeling in front of his desk and calling a family to inform them that someone had died of COVID-19—touched a lot of people, especially healthcare staff in Canada. Some people have told me that when they look at the book, they just cry because it brings back all the memories of what we lived through. And some people won’t look at the book right now, but they still bought the book so they can look at it in 20 years. Even for me, looking at some of the photographs is hard. You get attached to the people you photograph, and the outcomes weren’t always positive. The book also showed photos of the unique ways people adjusted to fear, to lockdowns, to unknowns—the way they continued to carry on, visiting family through closed windows, holding socially distanced baby showers, staging drive-through religious celebrations and drive-through graduations and drive-by birthday parties and drive-in movie theaters and drive-in musical recitals. Those images, I think, resonated with people.

As a photographer, what are some of your favorite kinds of subjects to shoot? People. My favorite projects are the ones where I get to immerse myself in other people’s lives. I love working on visual stories where I learn something new. I get to live vicariously through so many people and so many walks of life. It’s a privilege to be welcomed into someone’s life, be permitted to take photos of whatever they’re doing and share their stories with the world.

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