It’s truly a walk through time and history.
Award-winning photojournalist Leah Hennel created a photo essay called Alone Together.
She captured raw emotion in each picture and compiled them in a book marking this historical past couple of years.
“I saw what it was like when a patient wouldn’t make it and how it would affect staff, and I didn’t think about it until I got home,” Hennel said.
“The camera is our shield, but I was going through the same thing… It was hard.”
Hennel had unfiltered access to Calgary’s hospitals and ICUs. She is an Alberta Health Services photographer who focused in on the humanity in utter darkness.
“I wanted to show the dignity,” she explained.
Bernie Cook was one of the patients featured. He survived COVID-19 after spending days in a coma.
“Leah was real. Her heart was in the right place and I resonated with that,” Cook said.
“She expressed intention and her intentions were pure.”
Cook has spent months recovering mentally and physically.
“I’m at peace with it now. I was not going to be owned by the trauma,” Cook said.
Looking back at the photos reminds him of the moments he shared with his brother, who was by his side every day, he said.
“My brother took this pretty hard. It affected him severely,” Cook said. “The picture of him shaving me… I was so grateful he was there.”
“That, to me, was just a brotherly bond,” Hennel said. “I have a brother. He died a few years ago. So when I saw Joseph there with Bernie, that moment will stick with me forever.”
Heroic healthcare workers like Mia Torres were also featured. Torres works in the ICU.
“Going through those doors in the ICU, I didn’t know who was going to be next.
“It was even harder for me because who was going to be the next person that I potentially knew because as the wave came on, the patients got younger and younger and the families got bigger and bigger,” Torres said.
She and her colleagues worked tirelessly to save lives, sacrificing time with their loved ones.
“You were non-stop working and I lost touch with reality,” Torres said.
“But when we first opened up, I was able to see my grandmother for the first time. Leah followed me for that moment.
“Those were just memories and moments in time that you’ll never get back and she has that documented.”
All the proceeds from the book will go to the foundations supporting health care in Alberta.
“All I do it take photos and I feel like I’m constantly taking. This is a way to give back and honor what they gave me,” Hennel said.
The official book launch is May 13.