“In Whom We Trust”
A Staff Portrait Project
In autumn 2010, Fresh Arts commissioned photographer, James
Dwyer, and oral historian and sound artist, Mary Ingoldby, to
create “In Whom We Trust” a staff portrait project, an exhibition
of staff and their work at North Bristol NHS Trust.
“In Whom We Trust” marks an important moment in the life of the
Trust, as it faces all the challenges that the transition to a new
hospital in 2014 will bring, as well as the changes happening to
the NHS, its staff and service delivery across the country.
The combination of visual image (portraits showing work
situations and roles) with soundscape (recorded personal
reflections) provides an absorbing insight into how each staff
member, whatever their level, is an essential and individual cog in
this vast ‘health care’ machine.
And it is the human heart of this machine which is conveyed so
strongly. All staff members across the spectrum are involved at an
emotional level. The demanding nature of caring work – witness the
prediction “I will cry at work today” – is seen as a privileged and
humbling aspect of the job.
We are presented with touching evidence that our health service
is founded on the compassion, commitment and skills of the carers
who work in it. We can feel, thanks to this exhibition, reassured
and grateful to those ‘In Whom We Trust’.
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