Sarah Cusack, PPE Pandemic Portraits Luminosity, Colour & B&W (ART & CONCEPTUAL 2024)

Digital Photograms of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worn by Victorian, Australian frontline healthcare workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Who put their own lives, health and that of their families on the line for their communities. The height of this battle taking place behind closed doors against an invisible common enemy of humankind. Their armour thin, light and delicate but equally hot, suffocating and uncomfortable for long periods of time. PPE provides protection from infectious particles but not from the varying psycho-emotional states suffered over time from adrenaline, trauma and burnout. Its diaphanousness with light allows a photographic inverse seen with the dark room technique of creating photograms. Using a digital process here also allows an inverse of colour and luminosity while maintaining a likeness to medical imaging.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.