People Not Profit
Johannah Churchill – North East nurse, photographer, and nurse photographer – depicts life in the NHS. No verbal explanation or interpretation required….
A huge THANK YOU to Johannah:
What a powerful Exhibition.
Thank you, Johannah Churchill, for so accurately portraying the emotional demands of caring for others – shown especially in your photographs taken at the time of Covid. Your beautiful and evocative work clearly demonstrates that there is no more an important a job as looking after others at their time of need – and workers in the NHS do this, day in and day out. Thank you, also, for your spirit of generosity in setting up this extraordinary Exhibition in the first place, and in donating all proceeds to KONP locally. We picked up, in many ways, a very special empathy and thoughtfulness from the NHS workers in the portraits and, also, the same qualities in yourself behind the camera and in planning and instigating this work. Thank you from all at KONP North East.
Exhibition notes:
The show features a selection of Churchill’s powerful and emotive NHS worker portraits, exploring art and photography as a means of protest. This pop-up exhibition was conceived as a public response to mounting concerns over the right to strike in the UK. Amongst the many images featured in the show is Churchill’s iconic portrait ‘Melanie March 2020’ (above) a haunting depiction of a nurse at the beginning of lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Johannah Churchill is a portrait and documentary photographer based in Sunderland. Themes encompassing loss, illness and isolation are frequently referenced throughout her work. Her practice is often interwoven with her history as a nurse. Her most known bodies of work draw attention to the emotional complexities of ‘care’ and its impact on the carer.
Churchill’s work has been featured in many publications including the Financial Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian and the British Journal of Photography amongst others. Her work is held by the National Portrait Gallery, The Wellcome Collection and Sunderland Winter Gardens.
The Exhibition is located at Pop Recs, 172 – 175 High Street West, Sunderland, and the closing date has been extended to (at least) Saturday 1st July 2023. Pop Recs states that it proudly stands in solidarity with NHS workers.
Two recent reviews:
konpnortheast.com 