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Nanna Heitmann photographed the Covid-19 pandemic in and around Moscow, Russia. In this conversation, conducted via Zoom on December 3, 2020, she discusses these photographs with Alan Govenar. During the call, Heitmann was in Moscow, Russia, and Govenar was in Dallas, Texas. |
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Park near Kurskiy train station. Homeless people wait in a line to receive medical treatment or medicine. Moscow, Russia, April 21, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
Alan Govenar: Could you finish the sentence “Truth in photography is…”
Nanna Heitmann: I think truth in photography doesn’t exist or it’s always subjective. Maybe truth in photography is my perspective on how I view things.
Govenar: What started you doing your work on Covid-19?
Heitmann: When the lockdown in Moscow started, or generally the lockdown worldwide, there were conversations among the Magnum photographers where every photographer was thinking how to have their own voice represented in such a historic moment, as well as how to photograph something which is invisible. Everyone was writing their thoughts about the pandemic, how to photograph generally how their life is, and I think this was really inspiring or motivating for me to read the words of all those photographers, and later see results from photographers like Alex Majoli, who photographed in Italy.
Nanna Heitmann: I think truth in photography doesn’t exist or it’s always subjective. Maybe truth in photography is my perspective on how I view things.
Govenar: What started you doing your work on Covid-19?
Heitmann: When the lockdown in Moscow started, or generally the lockdown worldwide, there were conversations among the Magnum photographers where every photographer was thinking how to have their own voice represented in such a historic moment, as well as how to photograph something which is invisible. Everyone was writing their thoughts about the pandemic, how to photograph generally how their life is, and I think this was really inspiring or motivating for me to read the words of all those photographers, and later see results from photographers like Alex Majoli, who photographed in Italy.
Photographs by Alex Majoli. © Alex Majoli / Magnum Photos
Govenar: So during what period did you make those photographs?
Heitmann: I started to photograph in April [2020]. The first time I was in the hospital itself was the end of April, but before that I was photographing the Easter ceremonies of the Orthodox Church. What fascinated me also in the pandemic was making so many pictures I thought I’d seen before in the 1918 flu. I saw pictures of crowded people standing in front of a church in New York, I think. So many motifs I’ve seen one hundred years ago, and now they’re coming back. The Orthodox Church was not acknowledging that there’s this virus, or denying its existence, so the Easter processions would continue.
Heitmann: I started to photograph in April [2020]. The first time I was in the hospital itself was the end of April, but before that I was photographing the Easter ceremonies of the Orthodox Church. What fascinated me also in the pandemic was making so many pictures I thought I’d seen before in the 1918 flu. I saw pictures of crowded people standing in front of a church in New York, I think. So many motifs I’ve seen one hundred years ago, and now they’re coming back. The Orthodox Church was not acknowledging that there’s this virus, or denying its existence, so the Easter processions would continue.
Orthodox priests in central Moscow have begun nightly processions on the territory of their monastery in an effort to combat the coronavirus with prayer. The priest sprinkles the territory of the monastery with holy water. Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery, Moscow, Russia, March 23, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Orthodox Easter Service during the night from April 18th-19th. Easter is the most important holiday in Russia and is the service is held all night until dawn. In Moscow it took place behind closed doors, while in other regions in Russia services were held under certain hygienic rules like disinfecting hands and wearing masks as soon as you enter the church. People were supposed to stand on certain markers to secure enough distance to each other which didn't always work out. Tver, Russia, April 18-19, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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A patient on EKMO. EKMO is used when the patients lungs stoped to work completely.
ECMO works by temporarily drawing blood from the body to allow artificial oxygenation of the red blood cells and removal of carbon dioxide. ECMO is used to support patients with the acute viral pneumonia in cases where artificial ventilation is not sufficient to sustain blood oxygenation levels. Hospital 53nd, Moscow, Russia, May 29, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Photograph from the 1918 flu pandemic
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Govenar: In those photographs, they have a coloration that is really amazing to me. There’s something about the compositions that remind me of the paintings of Bruegel. Did you think that when you were photographing?
Heitmann: In Russia, the church services didn’t take place, or just illegally, so I drove to a city which is two hours away from Moscow. There, I was going from church to church and asking before the service starts for permission, and most churches didn’t want me to photograph. In the end, I could photograph at this church, and it also ended up being this really old church with candles, and it kind of really reminded me of being in some other time. Except the masks. I decided to take the picture from the corner where there was this construction work and people sitting, because usually in an Orthodox Church service, it starts somewhere in the late evening and lasts until sunrise, until five o’clock in the morning. And usually people are always standing all this time. Only the old and the children, they had some benches in the back. I found this was the most meaningful place.
Heitmann: In Russia, the church services didn’t take place, or just illegally, so I drove to a city which is two hours away from Moscow. There, I was going from church to church and asking before the service starts for permission, and most churches didn’t want me to photograph. In the end, I could photograph at this church, and it also ended up being this really old church with candles, and it kind of really reminded me of being in some other time. Except the masks. I decided to take the picture from the corner where there was this construction work and people sitting, because usually in an Orthodox Church service, it starts somewhere in the late evening and lasts until sunrise, until five o’clock in the morning. And usually people are always standing all this time. Only the old and the children, they had some benches in the back. I found this was the most meaningful place.
Easter Procession in Tver. While in Moscow churches were closed at Easter the governor of Tver decided to hold the most important Russian orthodox holiday anyway. People had to wear masks and stand 1.5m apart from each other which didn't always work. Tver, Russia, April 19, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Peter Brueghel the Elder, “The Peasant Dance”
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Govenar: When you’re making these photographs, what’s going on in your mind? Are you just responding spontaneously? Do you have some sense of what you’re trying to do, what you’re trying to say through your photographs?
Heitmann: I think it’s always mixed. Sometimes I try to prepare. And I also like a lot of historic art, and how the Flemish masters worked with light. In this case, it was important for me to show how there’s such a denying of the existence of the virus, and the most vulnerable people are just packed up in this building to stay all the night.
Govenar: That life goes on regardless.
Heitmann: Regardless of everything, people are singing. Nuns were singing like angels. I was there with my partner, and he fell asleep, and at some point he said he had the feeling like there were angels.
Govenar: It’s interesting that you mention Flemish painting because they seem compositionally to be influenced by painting. Did you think about this when you were making them?
Heitmann: Maybe unconsciously. I don’t know. I really like the Flemish art and I look at it a lot. So maybe unconsciously I get reminded.
Heitmann: I think it’s always mixed. Sometimes I try to prepare. And I also like a lot of historic art, and how the Flemish masters worked with light. In this case, it was important for me to show how there’s such a denying of the existence of the virus, and the most vulnerable people are just packed up in this building to stay all the night.
Govenar: That life goes on regardless.
Heitmann: Regardless of everything, people are singing. Nuns were singing like angels. I was there with my partner, and he fell asleep, and at some point he said he had the feeling like there were angels.
Govenar: It’s interesting that you mention Flemish painting because they seem compositionally to be influenced by painting. Did you think about this when you were making them?
Heitmann: Maybe unconsciously. I don’t know. I really like the Flemish art and I look at it a lot. So maybe unconsciously I get reminded.
The parade of 75th anniversary of Victory Day has been cancelled. Only a flight show took place. Some curious visitors broke quarantine. But mostly only journalists were present. Red Square, Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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The former swimming pool got turned into a canteen. Hospital N 15, Moscow, Russia. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Govenar: Photographing people in the hospital raises different kinds of ethical questions. People are suffering, people are working. To what extent do you think about these ethical questions when you’re photographing people?
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Heitmann: (reply in video)
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Govenar: When you document this world, what do you hope the viewer of your photographs gets from them?
Heitmann: The first time I was in the hospital, I was terrified to see all the patients and also patients my age. I met one war photographer, Uri Kasura. I was thinking, “What am I doing here?” This guy has seen so many wars and has been to so many conflict zones, he can go through there so relaxed and so focused and photograph everything, and I was wondering what am I doing there. I wasn’t really able to raise my camera the first day. At this time, I was in really close contact to the Russian editor. He worked also previously as an editor for Time magazine. I told him, “I met Uri, and I think he can do this so much better than I’m doing it.” And later, when he saw the pictures, I think he was saying that, especially because I’m not this typical war photographer, I could show a totally different perspective, or maybe a more gentle view on what is happening. |
Military exhibition "Army 2016". Photo of Yuri Kozyrev. Moscow Region, Russia, September 2016. © Thomas Dworzak / Magnum Photos
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Nurse Julia Korotkikh after 24h shift in the Red Zone. Hospital 52nd, Moscow, Russia, May 07, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Head of the Department of Audiology Pavel Azarov. Hospital 52nd, Moscow, Russia, May 07, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Nurse during complex cesarean section in a patient with placental ingrowth. Hospital 52nd, Moscow, Russia, April 30, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Doctors and nurses congratulate patients on Victory Day. The departments contain 21 war veterans and more than 100 “children of war.” Hospital 52nd, Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Nurse with flowers for war veterans on Victory Day. Hospital 52nd, Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Govenar: When you’re talking about this idea of being more gentle, it’s your presence, it’s your body language. So when you’re talking about these photographs in the hospital and trying to give a more gentle view, it’s because that’s what you’re emanating to the subject, and they’re responding to you. Do you believe that to be true?
Heitmann: Yes, yes, for sure. I think I have to say I was also talking to the women sometimes, especially with the hospital. I sometimes get too much into the person, or I mention myself sometimes too much. So sometimes I have the feeling I would like to be more distanced from the person or her pain. Because I think I’m getting emotionally too close, and it’s kind of really affecting me psychologically.
Heitmann: Yes, yes, for sure. I think I have to say I was also talking to the women sometimes, especially with the hospital. I sometimes get too much into the person, or I mention myself sometimes too much. So sometimes I have the feeling I would like to be more distanced from the person or her pain. Because I think I’m getting emotionally too close, and it’s kind of really affecting me psychologically.
Claudia Ignatovna, 80 years old just moved into the new opened hostel of the charity "Dom Druzhey". She is tired of being moved from one place to the other all the time. She worked as an ingenieur in Soviet Union. As it happens often to elderly people in Moscow where living is expensive, her niece betrayed her and took away her apartment so now she is homeless. May 15, 2020, Moscow, Russia. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Recovering patient. Hospital 52nd, Moscow, Russia, May 09, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Evgenii just moved into the shelter from a social adaptation centre where they said the could only sleep sitting on chairs.
Evgenii was robbed just before the quarantine started. He is waiting until quarantine is over so he can become new documents to be able to return to St.Petersburg where his mother lives. In Moscow he used to work in wood manufactory but lost the work as lockdown started. He broke his leg 6 moths ago and his leg won't heal. May 15, 2020, Moscow, Russia. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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A young man is being intubated in the reanimation room. May 6, 2020, Moscow, Russia. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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In the flat of Ludmilla Alexandrovna. Sister Natalia Georgivna comes to her three times a week when her son is at work for 48 hours and not able to look after her. Natalia works for the Russian orthodox charity Miloserdi as a patronage. She cares for the old and sick who otherwise wouldn't get any help. Moscow, Russia, April 24, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Heitmann: My mom, she’s a psychotherapist, and my dad, he’s an ergo-therapist. He works with people who had a brain stroke, who are paralyzed, to make their life easier. Sometime before I started studying, I was sometimes following him where he works with his patients. I felt so sad for some patients, and I was asking him how he works with them everyday, and he says, “Feeling sad for them doesn’t help anyone, it kind of destroys yourself and it doesn’t help them.” That’s something I was thinking back on so often, but it’s really hard doing.
A patient received flowers on Victory day. Moscow, Russia, May 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Doctor Sergej Sergevitsch got balloons for his birthday from his colleagues. It was supposed to be a holiday but he still came to work to support his colleagues. Moscow, Russia, May 7, 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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A newborn baby being shown to her mother while a Caesarean operation with complications. Only the building for Obstetrics of the 52nd hospital is still taking non covid patients. Moscow, Russia, May 30 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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Workers pass from one into another building. Hospital 52nd, Moscow, Russia, May 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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A patient is being released from the hospital. As soon as patients are not in need for oxygen anymore they get released back home, otherwise there would never be enough place for all patients. Hospital 52nd, Moscow, Russia. May 2020. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos
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