PICTURE OF HEALTH
BY ANDY FELTHAM
“The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it”.
Aneurin Bevan, the Health Minister who created the NHS
Since its inception in 1948, the National Health Service has been the prized jewel in Britains welfare crown. As mortality rates decrease year-on-year, the demand for cutting-edge therapies, and their associated tariffs, continues to rise. A victim of its own success, the NHS faces its biggest fight to date.
Picture of Health is my take on a small corner of the NHS today. Shot over two years, starting in February 2016, I was granted access to all areas across Northampton General Hospital, a mid-sized district general hospital in Northamptonshire, UK.
In part I wanted to explore the unseen recesses of the hospital, hinting at the hidden complexities inherent within the delivery of care. Further, I hoped to highlight chronic underfunding across the NHS, which has meant that the provision of safe care to the populace of Northamptonshire has become increasingly difficult. Despite - or perhaps because of - this, it was also the aim of this project to celebrate the hard work and commitment shown by staff at Northampton General Hospital in providing the Best Possible Care to their patients on a daily basis.
Bio
Andy Feltham is a self-taught photographer who lives in Northampton, UK, who also works part-time within the healthcare setting at his local hospital. He has been exhibited in the UK, USA and Italy and featured in numerous publications, both online and in print. He has also been commissioned to work in the commercial as well as the fine art setting.
Feltham seeks to create a tension within each photograph by using meticulous framing, exposure and technique to detach the subject from its surroundings. This lends a subtle disquiet to the underlying themes of beauty, mortality and humour that hallmark his work.
www.andyfelthamphotography.com
www.instagram.com/andyfelthamphotography/