[Portraits by Brad Sigal] In late March and early April, I did portraits of front-line health care workers at a few locations in the Twin Cities. I worked with union members at the facilities to ask their co-workers if they would be willing to do portraits to highlight the heroism of the workers who are on the front lines confronting the COVID-19 pandemic, all too often without even getting proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). I am thankful to all the workers who did portraits with me at the end of a long shift or on a quick break, to help people see the everyday working class heroes on the front lines. Doctors on the front lines are heroes, but so are nurses, nursing assistants, patient transport workers, nutrition workers, sanitation workers, and all others who work in the hospitals and clinics where they may risk exposure to COVID-19.

As we can see from the portraits, even in a largely-white state like Minnesota, many front-line health care workers are Black, Asian, Latino and other nationalities. And the majority are women. These are the people who are all too often invisible and taken for granted, and whose pay and work conditions often reflect that.

We owe a huge debt to them. Not just during this crisis when they are risking their health and lives every day they go to work, but all the time. I hope that as a result of this crisis one of the many changes we make is assuring that front-line health care workers are valued. That means joining with their call to have proper Personal Protective Equipment to perform their jobs safely. And it also means supporting their struggles for better working conditions and pay generally. Their work is particularly hazardous with COVID-19 but there are dangers every day on the front lines in health care.

These portraits are my small token of solidarity with front line health care workers. It is only through solidarity that we will overcome this crisis and build a better society.