Peter Turnley

See the 'human face of Covid-19' through the eyes of a photographer

Photographer Peter Turnley captures emotional images during the Covid-19 crisis in NYC and Paris.

New York City-which has been the epicenter of the coronavirus in the world these past two months-is a city of human beings-each with a name- an age-each with a life experience-each with a family that cares about them-and all, like each of us, are much more important than statistics, peaks, flattened curves-they are the heart and soul of this moment-and the heart and soul of our moment.

While these images and stories are from New York-they are in solidarity with every country in the world and every person in the world-all who have been in the middle of this war-truly a World War with an invisible enemy. Our human family worldwide finds itself in the middle of this crisis. This visual diary is also, our story.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis in NYC, I have gone out most days, with my camera and notebook, always keeping at a careful social distance with all people, wearing a mask and gloves, and return to where I stay, alone. It is essential that at this moment in our collective life, that the stories of so many heroes and victims, of all dimensions, be documented, helping to bring us together now, and for memory, forever.

NEW YORK LOCK DOWN – A VISUAL DIARY with Peter Turnley

Recorded May 5, 2020

Peter Turnley has recorded the realities of the Human Condition for decades, turning his lens now to the people of New York City as they navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. Join us as he shares his visual stories of a beloved city during a time of crisis. Hosted by Tom A. Smith Director of the Leica Akademie USA.

A photographer wakes up every day of this pandemic and takes to the streets of New York City to capture -- in black and white photos -- the crisis of our lives.

Over the past four decades, Peter Turnley has covered wars around the world.

The things Turnley has seen would astonish anyone, but when the lockdown started, he was the one who was stunned.

"I was shaken by what I saw, by a city that was empty," Turnley said. "I came back home, and I cried. I sobbed for a few minutes. I was shaken."

Ever since then, Turnley has hit the streets armed with his camera and his N95 face mask to document the brave faces and the strong people of the pandemic.

He captures the ones who answer the call, the ones who need a hand, the ones who keep the city moving and the ones who find joy -- every one of them a New Yorker.

"In the last six weeks, I have never met a New Yorker who has demanded any thanks or gratitude or appreciation," he said. "They just tell me they're doing their job, what they think is their duty."

Turnley said what we are all now living is something none of us have ever experienced before.

"We're all scared we're gonna take that long trip in the ambulance to the hospital, and it's challenging all of us to figure out what's most important in their life, he said. "What has struck me so often has been the role and the theme of love. In a moment like this, most of us think of what's most important to us,. And at the end of the day, it has a lot to do with the people closest to us in our family."

Music Credit: Prague Philarmonic Symphony

Credit: "Glory" by John Legend

One of the best known living photojournalists in the world has an exhibit in Cuba, the first for any U.S. photographer since the revolution.

By Peter Turnley

Credit: "Perdido En Tus Ojos" by Don Omar 

A film by Christian Erland about Peter Turnley’s major retrospective at Cuba’s Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, from Nov. 13, 2015 to March 4, 2016. This exhibit was the first by a North American photographer since the Cuban revolution at Cuba’s most important museum. This film is one of the most complete documentaries made about Peter Turnley’s renowned international career covering the human condition over the past four decades.

The theme song of the samba school Beija-Flor de Nilópolis 2011