Indira Flack Portrait Photographer Scrubs for Epsom & St. Helier CV-19 project
SCRUBS FOR EPSOM & ST. HELIER
Indira
Being a photographer is a brilliant job to have. I’ve met all sorts of people from actors to vicars, lollipop ladies to politicians. It really is a fun way to make a living but it’s not brain surgery. I always thought it must be good to have a job that was a little more …. ’significant’.
When the pandemic hit, all my work was cancelled and my exhibition ‘Great British Racing Drivers’ at The Silverstone Experience had to shut. Although I still had plenty to do, I’d heard about ‘For the Love of Scrubs’ and sewing was definitely something I could do to help. I loved needlework at school and used to make a lot of my clothes.
I joined the ‘Scrubs for Epsom & St Helier’ FaceBook group and walked round to Denise’s house to pick up fabric, which was already bagged with my name on amid a sea of bags on her drive. Channeling my needlework teacher, the brilliant Mrs Bowler, using my Mum’s 1950s Singer as my 1980s Singer had decided not to work; I set about making scrub hats, mask extenders and isolation gowns. This is the first scrub cap I made from a duvet donated by my lovely neighbour Pam .
It was great to feel a little more 'significant' by being part of the national effort to keep the key workers safe, especially as they include family and friends. My cousin is an NHS Speech and Language Therapist at a hospital in Wales, usually working with out patients and in the community. However, in the first wave and again now, she is seeing COVID patients as she is redeployed to the wards. Her husband is Head of Creative and Technical studies and is in constant contact with the students. My nephew is a shop manager, working in a very busy village shop/post office in Somerset, which became even more busy and important to the local community. Although I wasn’t kitting them out personally it was good to feel that I was supporting them in a round about way.
I had already photographed my neighbours during the first lockdown, which was great fun. As restrictions eased I thought it would be good to document a few of the 1000 strong ‘Scrubs for Epsom & St Helier’ group too. I got in touch with the admin team, who loved the idea, suggesting that I start with them so I had something to show the rest of the group. I started with Denise, who lives just around the corner, on a day that drivers Mike and Nick were picking up from her. Denise then made a call and sent me off further down the road to Olivia, one of the youngest in the group, and her Mum, Alison, it was a great start.
I posted on the group Facebook page to ask for volunteers, also looked out for posts that might make for interesting pictures and the admin team suggested members too. I wanted to have a good cross section of the group, admin, sewers, knitters, crocheters, beginners, experienced, fundraisers, young, old, women and men. I was particularly delighted to be able to included someone who had benefited from the group’s donations, Rachel, Associate Director of Nursing at Epsom & St Helier, with her sewing sister Caroline. I did have to wait quite a while for that picture, as needless to say, Rachel was a little busy !
Thank you to all the 'Scrubbers' who took part, it was a joy to meet you all, albeit mostly through windows or outside at the prescribed 2 metre plus distance. Your enthusiasm and help was much appreciated, especially when encountering windows that didn’t open very far, temperamental steam irons, uncooperative tailors dummies, wind that blew too much, wind that didn’t blow enough and the photographer’s perennial problem of the sun disappearing behind a huge cloud just at the critical moment ! It was all part of the fun and most importantly, we all had a good laugh.
Extra special thanks go to Grace & Izzy who I made run around in a field, on what must have been the hottest day of the year, you absolutely deserved those ice creams !
I am proud to be a part of this dedicated, creative, supportive and still productive team. It is a real privilege to have photographed this small number of the group and I look forward to a time when we can all get together properly, close up and give each other great big hugs.
