Bronze / 2021 / Portraiture / Family

• Prize
  Bronze in Portraiture/Family
• Photographer
  Maggie Shannon, United States

After Los Angeles went into lockdown in March, I began following midwives as they navigated the new world brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, exploring what it means to bear life in a time of disease and grief. As the virus swept through the city, the midwives’ phones rang endlessly with calls from terrified women hoping to switch to a home birth. Many of their practices were shifted to telehealth and birth centers were moved outdoors into tents in an effort to keep patients safe. At a time marked by images of separation and loss, these stories of touch and care feel especially healing.