The Why (WHYY-FM)
A camera, a mask and 2020's most enduring image.
Click here to listen.Since March, Philadelphia area photographer Kyle Cassidy has taken pictures of essential workers as a part of a series called “Between Us and Catastrophe:” healthcare workers, Instacart shoppers, members of city government, sanitation workers, and more.
Cassidy interviewed these workers as well, asking them about the risks they’re taking and the sacrificing they’re making to keep us all safe. “Some of these people are fighting COVID because they heard the clarion call and they ran out to stand between us and this virus and fight it. And other people are fighting this virus because we left them out there,” he says.
Why could pictures like these, highlighting essential workers, stay with us as the most enduring images of 2020?
Distillations: Between Us and Catastrophe - Stories from the pandemics essential workers.
Click here to listen to the podcast.
When the COVID-19 pandemic spread, and lockdowns began in March of 2020, photographer and Philadelphia resident Kyle Cassidy recognized that we were living through a historic moment. But he also recognized that for many people, especially those working on the front lines of the pandemic, the moment might pass by without a record of our everyday experiences. Cassidy’s project, Between Us and Catastrophe, was created to capture the challenges and changes faced by essential workers across the region. The Science History Institute is proud to share these important stories. We invite you to visit our new outdoor exhibition of large-scale portraits on our Chestnut Street façade, where you’ll see images of the essential workers interviewed in this episode.
Credits
Host: Elisabeth Berry Drago
Senior Producer: Mariel Carr
Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez
Music by Blue Dot Sessions: “Arlan Vale,” “Alum Drum,” “Setting Pace,” “Kalstead,” “Drone Pine,” and “Raskt Landsby.”