There have been some dramatic images coming out of the battle against coronavirus around the world and in the United States as well. However, when the doctor who attends the patient is the photographer, there is a greater degree of intimacy involved, as he understands what caregivers and patients are going through.
Dr. Scott Kobner is the primary emergency room resident at the Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, one of the nation’s largest public health systems.
“Every day off I had or sometimes after shifts, I stayed or went in to do this type of work to really try to be in a totally different role, which had nothing to do with the medical care that was being provided , but in a position where I could use my knowledge and experience to help others see the world through my own experience, ”said Dr. Kobner to NPR.
Rachel Martin of NPR interviewed Kobner about her photography for Morning Edition. You can listen to the 10-minute conversation here:
Dr. Kobner is an amateur photographer, and when the pandemic hit, he started using his Leica M6 and M10 cameras to record events in the emergency room. These photos were published by the Los Angeles Times this week. When thinking about Leica, historical images of wars, pandemics and other tragedies come to mind. The coronavirus is in fact the greatest tragedy of modern day that still refuses to go away silently.
Photography is not my daily job. Nor is it really my night job. My day and night work is emergency medicine. Being an emergency doctor will always be my first love. But photography comes in second place. The more you know about the two, the more similar they become … Photography is the mentality of recognizing and preserving the fleeting. The rest is just chemistry. –From the Kobner website.
The photos are all in black and white and have the somber appearance of a life and death struggle, which they are actually capturing. They may be dark scenes unfolding elsewhere for viewers, but for Dr. Kobner, it is the reality before him that he is recording.
“It is a sacred honor to be with human beings during their most vulnerable moments, especially their last moments on Earth,” writes Dr. Kobner on his Instagram.
Dr. Kobner does not want his photograph to distract him in any way from his life-saving tasks in the hospital and therefore only captures images on his days off. He also makes it clear to patients that he is not involved in their care when taking pictures. Although the hospital allowed him to photograph his operations, he also made sure to get permission from each patient.
Dr. Kobner grew up in Flemington, New Jersey, and attended New York University School of Medicine. Last spring, when he saw the pandemic completely dominating his home state of New York, he knew it wouldn’t be long before the virus entered California and caused similar damage.
The only photo that moves him the most is that of his colleague Dr. Molly Grassini, trying and hoping that a patient will be reborn. During the early days of the pandemic, a young patient had a cardiac arrest en route to the hospital. The team was desperately trying to revive him, and Dr. Grassini is looking at the monitor with those hopeful eyes, just asking to see a heartbeat or some sign of life.
“I think the best part of photography is that there is an undeniable narrative authority in it,” says Dr. Kobner NPR. “You know, when you see a photograph, you know that this was the documentation of a snapshot in time, and it was not a reimagination of something.
“It wasn’t a drawing or a painting where, you know, a lot of details could be – or had to be remembered or changed … the absence, I think, of that narrative authority that something like photography can provide. “
Dr. Kobner wants his photos to show the general public what is really going on in hospitals as they work around the clock to save lives that are still disappearing.
(via NPR and LA Times)
About the author: Phil Mistry is a photographer and professor residing in Atlanta, GA. He started one of the first digital camera classes in New York City in The International Center of Photography in the 90’s. He was the director and teacher for Sony Days / Digital Photography’s Digital Days Workshops. You can contact him by email on here.
Image credits: All photos are by Dr. Scott Kobner and used with permission.