Mount Sinai Health System Unveils Photo Exhibit "We Find A Way" by Ashley Gilbertson

Via Mount Sinai Health System

August 22, 2022

We Find a Way is a photo installation that captures a glimpse inside the Mount Sinai Health System community in various moments of employees caring for patients through compassion, skill and often times going beyond in. Australian photojournalist and writer, Ashley Gilbertson, who typically covers war zones and social unrest, was able to capture powerful moments between a patient and health care worker.

This photo installation is part of Mount Sinai’s overarching branding and advertising campaign that launched in June 2021 and presents an emotional and raw view of what it takes to overcome challenging and complex health and scientific problems. The We Find a Way campaign and exhibit drew inspiration from the entire Mount Sinai community who went above and beyond to save countless lives during the pandemic, and how it seeks to do so for all health conditions. Their work has led to the development of new COVID-19 protocols, diagnostics, and therapeutics.

“This campaign reveals the soul of our organization, the resilience of our people, and our humanity,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Mount Sinai Health System. “I’m inspired by the people who make us who we are, who entered into this profession because they care and are unsatisfied with the status quo, and who embody the Mount Sinai way.”

Throughout the photos, Mr. Gilbertson was able to showcase the deep humanity in how Mount Sinai’s staff finds a way to go above and beyond for the care of patients. Within the exhibit, Mount Sinai doctors, nurses, researchers, and other staff are seen committing to every single patient, even through the worst of the crisis.

“This casts an authentic spotlight on what we do and who we are,” said David A. Feinberg, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System and Dean for Marketing and Communications for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “The distinctive experiences captured beautifully and thoughtfully reveal the essence of our community and Health System.”

Images include a physician’s assistant braiding a patient’s hair while the patient was under anesthesia and wouldn’t know, a patient in the operating room when their heart starts beating again, an occupational therapist helping a patient through rehab, quiet moments before surgery, researchers looking for solutions, a toddler patient returning home after a life-saving transplant, and more. The photo installation can be seen within The Mount Sinai Hospital at 1 Gustave L. Levy Place New York, NY 10029-6574.

Monroe Gallery of Photography was honored to donate a print by Gabriela E. Campos to Christus St. Vincent's Hospital

 

On Friday, Nov. 19, Monroe Gallery of Photography was honored to donate a print by Gabriela E. Campos to Christus St. Vincent's Hospital.

"A nursing station in the Frost 19 unit, Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, Santa Fe, NM, December, 2020" was taken during a surge in Covid-10 cases, and was part of a series that resulted in a first place New Mexico Press Association award. View the full essay here in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Stephen Wilkes’ Ellis Island Exhibit at Steuben Glass Gallery

Stephen Wilkes’ Ellis Island Exhibit at Steuben Glass Gallery

All rights reserved © Bernstein & Andriulli


Steuben Glass has made functional and fine art glass products for over 100 years in New York. Their involvement in the arts has lead them to collaborate with artists such as Isamu Noguchi, Miro, and Georgia O’Keefe. The Madison Avenue flagship store houses an expansive gallery that is now showing the work of Stephen Wilkes.

For five years, Wilkes photographed the hospital complex on Ellis Island where immigrants with questionable health and contagious diseases were kept. Some eventually joined their families across the Hudson River, while others perished before they could reach their new life.

Wilkes’ photographs are of abandoned rooms with peeling paint and empty hallways overtaken by plant growth. Since his time on the island, the hospital buildings have been renovated and the signs of the past have been removed. Visit the exhibit Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom to get an eye-opening look into what was once the gateway to America, captured in time.

Stephen Wilkes, Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom

The Steuben Gallery

667 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10065

Showing now until January 4th, 2009



Robert Nachman, Creative Director of Steuben Glass, talks about the impact of Stephen Wilkes’ work, the importance of history, and more.

Hospital extension, women’s ward

How did you first learn about Stephen Wilkes?

I first saw Wilkes’ work at Photo LA several years ago when he just started to do the Ellis Island photos and I’ve always been a personal fan of it.

What is it about Wilkes’ work that you think resonates with viewers?

I think just on a visceral level, it’s the beauty of the colors and forms… so on one hand you have the beauty of the imagery, the colors, the forms, the textures, and the light – it’s so gorgeous. But you also have this wonderful evocative equality of the history [of Ellis Island] which we all sort of know. I have family that went through Ellis Island, so knowing what that place was and seeing what it looks like now, it brings up all this emotion of this important place that’s been lost in time.

Psychiatric Hospital, wall study with light switch

How has the response been to the show?

For the people that aren’t familiar with it, there’s a two part unveiling for them where they first look at the pictures, and then when they realize what it is they are completely taken aback. For those who are familiar with it or have read the sign, they are also taken aback by the experience itself. I think that the size of the images are breathtaking and people have a strong reaction to it.

Also, everyone has their favorites which is true of most exhibits. Even though there’s a range of shots – exterior, interiors, one is just a wall – there are still wonderful details. For example, there’s this one room with a tiny mirror hanging above the sink and the Statue of Liberty is reflected in it (Tuberculosis Ward, Statue Liberty, Island 3). And then when they see it everyone goes “oh my god!” and there’s this wonderful process of discovery.

L to R: Tuberculosis ward, Isolation ward

What is the lasting impression that you think the show leaves?

I think the most memorable image by far is the cover of the book, the light is so beautiful and with the foliage it looks jewel-encrusted. The whole show evokes the imagination of a place lost in time, like Miss Haversham’s house crawling in vines in Great Expectations or when the kids return to Narnia and find everything in ruins, but the amazing part is that Ellis Island is actually real. It’s just a wonderful emotive experience that you go through when you explore the show. If you have been out to Ellis Island since the renovation, to see these images of complete dilapidation and then to learn how it has been brought back to life again, there is so much that future generations can learn.

Definitely. Ellis Island remains a living monument in American history. Stephen Wilkes’ photographs takes viewers on a journey through a past that will never be seen again. Thank you for your time Robert.
-Helen Shih


Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom is now on view at Steuben Gallery on 667 Madison Avenue, New York, NY until January 4th. View more work by Stephen Wilkes.

A vine covered corridor, the cover of the book (Corridor #9)

Nurse’s quarters

The Autoclave

Window Study, Isolation ward



































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