I’m often asked what may all-time favorite photo shoot is. It’s a hard question to answer. I’ve had over thirty years of professional photography and video jobs to look back on now.
I could name several amazing jobs I’ve been privileged to work on, like the two royal weddings I’ve shot, or the presidents of China, Ireland and the US I’ve photographed, or the homeless shelters I’ve photographed, where I saw lives being changed and turned around. Or I could talk about the rewarding experiences I’ve had leading others on photography workshops, but the job that stands out to me is the day in 2012 I saw a human heart beating for the first time… up close and personal.
I’ve had almost twenty years of experience shooting for healthcare clients now. I’ve gone from knowing nothing about oncology, bariatric chambers, stents and DaVinci robotic arms to knowing all about medical terms and procedures and I’m an veteran observer of dozens of surgical procedures. And I know I don’t look good in a bunny suit (but then, who does?).
In 2012 I was shooting some images for a local hospital, to be used to promote their cardiac services. This was the second day of shooting that week; all the images were going to be run as black and white, with an edgy look to them, showing the excellent care the hospital provided for their patients and the services they provided. All the shots were going to be with real patients, undergoing real procedures. There would be no asking nurses to stand in as patients this time. The final shoot we did was going to be an open heart surgery.
Being in the operating room is intense. Someone’s life is at stake, regardless of whether it’s a simple procedure or a life threatening one. If the doctor or surgical team makes a mistake, the consequences can be fatal. When I’m led into the OR, I’m always reminded that I need to stay away from the table that contains all the surgical instruments, all neatly laid out and ready to be used at any time. Everything on the table has been sterilized and if you so much as touch the table, it becomes an un-sterile environment and none of the instruments can be used… so the surgery has to be stopped. It’s a frightening prospect. You have to always remember– this is an environment like no other.
The focus of this shoot would be the cardiac surgeon, who the hospital wanted to feature in some promotional stories. There would be no good place for me to stand during the surgery except up by the patient’s head. But there was a screen between the unconscious patient’s head and everything below his or her neck (I never did learn if it was a man or woman- the rest of the body was completely covered), so I would need to be overhead on a ladder, shooting down on the doctor and patient.
Before we went in the room, we had to find a ladder for me to stand on to look over the screen. Once located, we used disinfectant alcohol pads to wipe down the ladder, then covered it in a large, clear plastic bag. So, even though I was nervous standing on a ladder overlooking open heart surgery, I also had to avoid slipping on the bag covering the steps. This wasn’t going to be easy.
Then, donning a bunny suit (a head-to-toe, zip-up white suit), hair net, shoe coverings and a face mask, we carried the ladder and my camera gear into the surgery, which had already been underway for probably several hours. I moved the ladder into position, careful to avoid all the tubes coming out of the machines next to me, any one of which was no doubt keeping the patient alive. Nothing could prepare me for the sight I found looking over that screen, down on to the patient’s body. Right there, only three feet away, was a real-life, beating, blood-covered human heart, pulsing away in front of me. Multiple tubes sucked away the blood while the surgeon used a tool to cauterize and cut away whatever was wrong. I don’t know what was going on- but I was fascinated by the whole thing. This was someone’s heart, naked and open to the light, beating in front of me. I’ll never forget that.
I used to worry about becoming nauseous seeing a person cut open like that- would I feel sick and have to leave the room? Would I recoil at the sight of blood (and I’ve sometimes seen a lot of it)? But I never have. I’ve just been fascinated at the ability we have to repair someone’s body, and the incredible knowledge surgeons have to do what they do to save someone’s life. It’s amazing to watch that happen in front of your eyes.
After only eight minutes and 58 photos later (and two short videos I could’t help but shoot), we were done. I carefully stepped down from the ladder, grateful that I hadn’t dropped a camera or fallen down on to the patient (you think about these things) and left the surgical room. The bunny suit, bouffant hair covering and the rest were taken off. I could finally relax a little.
The best part of my job is the experiences I’ve had over the years. I don’t know of any other job where you can do the variety of things I’ve been fortunate to do, or meet the people I’ve met. I don’t take that lightly and I never take any job for granted, no matter how big or small. But this one, seeing that heart beating in front of me- the essence of life- was the most fascinating job I’ve ever photographed.
