Rosem Morton is a healer and a chronicler.
As a Baltimore-based nurse and award-winning photographer, Morton has a special eye for human resilience. Who else, then, to visually record a health caregiver’s perspective on the coronavirus surge?
Last week, National Geographic published Morton’s diary of eight working days and the photographs she took inside her hospital as the pandemic’s toll began to mount in Maryland.
Her hospital photographs depict a sense of quiet, sterile expectation and readiness. (To obtain permission to take photographs inside the hospital, she agreed not to identify where she works.) She describes her changed routine, the rising number of confirmed cases, and getting fitted for protective equipment. “A small mistake in sealing the mask could be fatal,” she wrote.
We reached out to Morton to learn more about her diary and photos, the process, and the act of documenting personal experiences. Her emailed responses are below:
Your photos and diary begin, as you point out, days before the first confirmed case in MD. How and when did you decide this would be worth chronicling?
I always knew I wanted to work on a story about healthcare workers. With the advent of COVID-19, it became even more important to feature the voices of those [on] the frontlines. We see images of exhausted healthcare workers all the time, and I wanted people to have a deeper understanding of the events that lead to that.
As things were starting to change in Maryland, I reached out to editors to talk about possible story ideas on the healthcare system and workers. Originally, I was skeptical about pursuing my narrative. Being in the operating room, I did not see myself as someone truly on the frontlines. Our COVID patients would have surgery and be transported to their units. I would only be taking care of them in a transient period, unlike nurses who would take care of many of them at the same time for their whole shift. Although I still struggle with an imposter syndrome, I realized that the intimacy I can offer can shed light to the experiences of healthcare workers. So, I chose to start on March 17, 2020, Tuesday — 12 days after the first confirmed case in Maryland and the last day I felt like things would be “normal.”
How did you decide what – and what not – to include as you curated your thoughts and images?
As a nurse, I am extremely cognizant of HIPAA regulations. This foremost curated my thoughts and images. Thinking about the changes I’ve made and the changes that are forced upon me because of COVID-19 [also] helped me decide on my thoughts and images for this project.
Your images put your work as a nurse front and center. How did you set up to capture those moments yourself?
I have been very fortunate to work in an institution that has a lot of resources. The typical workload for the last three weeks has lessened for COVID safety and preparations. During these moments, I was able to think and act creatively in expressing my story.
You describe your work as “visual stories that focus on human relationships and resilience in areas of trauma recovery, culture preservation and health outcomes.” How much of this project was the result of you deciding to confront the trauma of the pandemic personally, with your camera?
As I continued the project, the creative outlet I produced helped me control my anxiety. I no longer feverishly check statistics for the state of Maryland. Sometimes, I miss a couple of days. This helped me recognize that I’m confronting another trauma through creative expression.
What do you hope readers will take away from your work?
I think for every body of work that I do, I hope for connection. I hope people will connect with this work and get some insight into the lives of healthcare workers.
I hope that people will take and continue to take this pandemic seriously. Our lives are all intertwined. We all have a role in making our society better and safer. I hope we choose to make those decisions.
What advice would you share with journalists who would like to document their personal experiences – but haven’t been able to write in this way before in their work?
I think making impactful work demands vulnerability. Often as journalists, we offer vulnerability but really ask it from others. Documenting your own experiences is really turning that table around and asking yourself uncomfortable questions you would rather avoid. I welcome it now because I find it to be an exercise in getting to know myself better and offering myself a lot of self love.
My advice would be to be kind to yourself, mute that critical voice and allow yourself to create freely, constantly and without judgment. It takes a lot of time and practice. It’s very worth it, not just for your creative self but also for your whole being.
As a nurse and photographer, how are you practicing self-care? How are you and your partner, also a nurse and photographer, finding ways to separate from the work?
I am not always good at self-care. I always pour myself into working more during intense times of my life. So, I think pursuing expressive autobiographical projects has also added to my self-care. I am learning to listen to myself more and be kinder to myself. I give myself a lot of positive self talk, allow myself breaks and mistakes. I really welcome self distancing because I am able to use these moments to recharge, spend time with my partner and two dogs. We have a tea ceremony at home, read books and watch a lot of stand-up comedy.