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PhotosByTomTom | Children's Commercial Fashion, Editorial, Lifestyle, Lookbooks, Advertising and Catalogue Photography by Tom Leighton | Studio and location photographer based in Camberwell, South East London.
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The Act of Protection
This project, whilst born out of events of the last 18 months, is about politics, health and the environment.
Protecting ourselves and those we love is a natural instinct, This spirit of protection and care echoes in our more recent efforts to protect the NHS and our planet.
The actions taken to safeguard public health during COVID-19, such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing, became symbols of our collective effort to protect one another and support our healthcare systems, including the NHS, which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. These discarded masks, now reminders of both our fear of the unknown and our shared struggle, were transformed into cyanotypes on an original copy of the 1946 National Health Service Act. This artistic representation highlights the interconnectedness of global health challenges, from the early days of the AIDS crisis to the current pandemic, emphasizing our ongoing commitment to protecting both individual and public health.
The series is also about protecting the planet from adverse effects of climate change. Blue surgical masks have become a ubiquitous symbol of the fight against Covid-19. However, these disposable forms of protection are found discarded on our streets and have became a sign of waste caused by the pandemic.
“Seeing all these masks on the ground demonstrated to me a lack of consideration for those who might have to clean up the streets and little regard for the impact this behaviour would have on the other’s health and the environment”.
Tom chose to channel his frustration about the pandemic the environmental emergency into a project that led him to work with cyanotypes for the first time.
“I initially began to photograph these masks in-situ on the street, but felt this didn’t work so I started to collect the masks, quarantined them and then overlaid each mask on a page of the original 1946 National Health Service Act, creating a series of 90 unique cyanotypes”.
The blue of the cyanotype echoes the colours of the NHS logo and the mask imprint is reminiscent of X-rays.
The Act of Protection asks us to consider who we are protecting, how we protect them, and why.
Together these 90 masks demonstrate the symbiotic relationship between two of the biggest challenges facing the global society at this moment in time.
Open edition prints are also available and 20% of each sale goes to the King’s College Hospital Charity. Go to the print sales page for more information.