Proud and happy to receive the 1st Prize in the News Story category at this year’s Istanbul Photo Awards with my coverage on Covid-19 for The New York Times More than a year has gone by since I took these pictures and many things have changed since then, many others have not. Today I remember every minute of those moments, and even when my memory begins to forget, there will be photographs to remind me. Thanks once again to all the families for letting me enter into their lives to document their pain and resilience and thanks to the Times team for the opportunities and for the great work they have done.
March 15, 2020, Pradalunga, (Bergamo province). Teresina Coria, 88, a suspected Covid-19 case, was helped by her son, Ezio, and Italian Red Cross volunteers to lay down on her bed. Her son decided to call an ambulance because Mrs. Coria had been showing typical Covid-19 symptoms – fever and breathing problems – for several days. ©Fabio Bucciarelli for The New York Times
A stretcher under a fresco in the courtyard of the Pesanti Fenaroli Hospital of Alzano Lombardo (Bergamo) found itself at the center of the Covid-19 outbreak, Italy on March 16, 2020. In March Italy found itself at the center of the Covid-19 epidemic, and its northern province of Bergamo become the ground zero for the coronavirus in all the world. In a few weeks, the number of infections and casualties have reached the highest levels worldwide heralding a global crisis that would soon spread in all the other countries. The public hospital system, particularly the ICU were collapsing due to the high number of infected cases and seriously ill patients, many of them dying at home with no chance to been hospitalized. ©Fabio Bucciarelli for The New York Times