Intrepid, resourceful AP staffers depict COVID’s victims in very different but equally stunning multiformat packages.
As the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the world last week, and the confirmed U.S. death toll approached 100,000, AP photographers on two continents found unusual and meaningful ways to bring home the tragedy of lives lost.
They were David Goldman, a global enterprise photographer based in Providence, Rhode Island, who met with the families of COVID-19 victims at a Massachusetts soldiers’ home, literally projecting their images onto the exterior of their homes for a series of arresting, ghostly and emotion-laden scenes, and Rodrigo Abd, global enterprise photographer, Lima, Peru, who spent weeks with Venezuelan migrants collecting bodies in a poor area of Lima to show the abject desperation of that city’s victims. The photographers’ affecting work wins them AP’s Best of the Week. Also honored is Lima reporter Franklin Briceño who accompanied Abd, documenting the funeral home workers on their grueling rounds, writing their story while also collecting interviews on his smartphone for a strong video piece.
Goldman came up with an unconventional storytelling approach, focused on the deadliest outbreak of coronavirus at any nursing facility in the country – more than 70 veterans died from COVID-19 at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home in Massachusetts. The victims’ families not only lost their loved ones, but the virus took away their normal grieving process and, in some cases, their chance even to say a last goodbye.
An image of veteran Roy Benson is projected onto the home of his daughter, Robin Benson Wilson, left, as she looks out a doorway with her husband Donald in Holland, Mass., May 13, 2020. Benson, a U.S. Army veteran and resident of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass., died from the COVID-19 virus at the age of 88.
AP Photo / David Goldman
An image of veteran James Mandeville is projected onto the home of his daughter, Laurie Mandeville Beaudette, as she looks out a window with her son Kyle, left, and husband Mike in Springfield, Mass., May 12, 2020. Mandeville, a U.S. Navy veteran and resident of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass., died from COVID-19 at the age of 83.
AP Photo / David Goldman
An image of veteran Samuel Melendez is projected onto the home of his nieces, Janet Ramirez, right, and Mary Perez as they look out a doorway in Chicopee, Mass., May 17, 2020. Originally from Puerto Rico, Melendez, a U.S. Army Korean War veteran and resident of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass., died from COVID-19 at the age of 86.
AP Photo / David Goldman
An image of veteran Emilio DiPalma is projected onto the home of his daughter, Emily Aho, left, as she looks out a window with her husband George in Jaffrey, N.H., April 30, 2020. DiPalma, a U.S. Army WWII veteran and resident of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass., died from COVID-19 at the age of 93.
AP Photo / David Goldman
An image of veteran Stephen Kulig is projected onto the home of his daughter, Elizabeth DeForest, as she looks out the window of a spare bedroom while her husband Kevin sits downstairs in Chicopee, Mass., May 3, 2020. Kulig, a U.S. Navy veteran and resident of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass., died from COVID-19 at the age of 92.
AP Photo / David Goldman
An image of veteran Francis Foley is projected onto the home of his wife, Dale Foley, left, as she looks out a window with their daughter, Keri Rutherford, in Chicopee, Mass., April 29, 2020. Foley, a U.S. Army veteran and resident of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass., died from COVID-19 at the age of 84.
AP Photo / David Goldman
An image of veteran Alfred Healy is projected onto the home of his daughter, Eileen Driscoll, left, as she looks out the window with sister Patricia Creran in Holyoke, Mass., May 7, 2020. Healy, a U.S. Army Korean War veteran and resident of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass., died from COVID-19 at the age of 91.
AP Photo / David Goldman
An image of veteran Harry Malandrinos is projected onto the home of his son, Paul Malandrinos, who looks out a window with his wife Cheryl in Wilbraham, Mass., May 16, 2020. Malandrinos, a U.S. Navy veteran and resident of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass., died from COVID-19 at the age of 89.
AP Photo / David Goldman
An image of veteran Chester LaPlante is projected onto the home of his son, Randy LaPlante, who looks out a window with his wife Nicole and their sons Evan and Blake, at their home in Amsterdam, N.Y., May 5, 2020. LaPlante, a U.S. Army veteran and resident of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass., died from COVID-19 at the age of 78.
AP Photo / David Goldman
An image of veteran Charles Lowell is projected onto the home he shared with his wife, Alice, for 30 years as she stands at left with her daughter, Susan Kenney, in Hardwick, Mass., May 2, 2020. Lowell, a U.S. Air Force veteran and resident of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass., died from COVID-19 at the age of 78.
AP Photo / David Goldman
An image of veteran Constance “Kandy” Pinard is projected onto the home she grew up in with her sister, Tammy Petrowicz, left, and brothers, Paul Driscoll, center, and Brian Driscoll in Florence, Mass., May 14, 2020. Pinard, a nurse in the U.S. Air Force and resident of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass., died from COVID-19 at the age of 73.
AP Photo / David Goldman
Realizing families were grieving from the confines of their homes and often in solitude, Goldman decided to photograph them in their environment, while showcasing their loved one in a larger-than-life format. The project comprised images of 12 of those veterans in uniform at the time they served, each projected at dusk onto the homes of their families, who are seen in mourning through the windows and doorways. Goldman interviewed each family member and the audio from each session became, in the hands of audio producer Samantha Shotzbarger in Phoenix, emotional audio remembrances, accompanied by written vignettes on each by New York-based enterprise writer Matt Sedensky.
“Beyond conceiving the idea, this kind of photography takes a lot of planning, gentle negotiation with many grieving families, extensive preparation, a dozen nights on the road, and the ability to successfully pivot before the sky goes dark,” said New England photo editor Bill Sikes.
Goldman managed to present a “subtle, evocative” portrait series that captured 12 veterans lost before their time, added Enric Marti, global enterprise photo editor, noting that the project was ready for publication just before Memorial Day. It had massive usage in U.S. newspapers, and some papers wanted to interview Goldman.
Family members stand aside as Piedrangel funeral home workers remove the body of a person suspected of dying from the coronavirus in Lima, Peru, May 14, 2020. Despite strict measures to control the virus, Peru has become one of the countries worst hit by COVID-19, with hundreds of Peruvians dying at home. Using primarily Venezuelan migrants, the Piedrangel funeral home started picking up victims of the virus, in neighborhoods wealthy or poor, when other funeral homes refused.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Luis Zerpa, left, from Venezuela, holds the lid of a cardboard coffin as he prepares to remove the body of a person who is suspected to have died from the coronavirus, in Lima, Peru, May 12, 2020. Despite strict measures to control the virus, this South American nation of 32 million has become one of the countries worst hit by the disease.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Piedrangel funeral home worker Luis Zerpa, of Venezuela, arrives to remove the body of 68-year-old Faustino Lopez who is believed to have committed suicide after learning that he tested positive for the coronavirus, in Lima, Peru, May 5, 2020. Lopez tried to check himself into a government center for coronavirus patients, but a guard turned him away because he hadn’t been correctly referred. Lopez went home, drank muriatic acid and hanged himself in his living room with a yellow extension cord.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A family snapshot of Jorge and Julia Lopez posing with their father, Faustino Lopez, sits on a notebook of scribbled pages, in Lima, Peru, May 19, 2020. Depressed and fearful, their father, a 68-year-old gardener, committed suicide after learning he had tested positive for the coronavirus, according to his son.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
At their home in Lima, Peru, May 19, 2020, siblings Jorge and Julia Lopez pose for a photo holding family snapshots in the living room where their father Faustino Lopez committed suicide days after learning he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Neighbors watch as Piedrangel funeral home workers remove the body of a person suspected of dying from the coronavirus, in Lima, Peru, May 12, 2020. With more than half of COVID-19 cases going uncounted, the true scope of the disaster in Peru could be even worse, according to some doctors.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Palmira Cortez mournfully watches as a team of Piedrangel funeral workers carry away the body of her 71-year husband, who is suspected, May 9, 2020. Peruvian officials call the virus the most devastating pandemic to hit the country since 1492, when Europeans began bringing diseases like smallpox and measles to the Americas.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Funeral home workers, Venezuelan Luis Zerpa and Peruvian Angelo Aza, pass the time playing games on their smartphones while parked outside the Villa El Salvador Emergency Hospital in Lima, Peru, as they wait for the body of a person who died from the coronavirus, May 9, 2020. The men are part of the Piedrangel funeral team that has been commissioned by the government to remove and cremate the bodies of deceased persons with suspected or confirmed COVID-19
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Piedrangel funeral home workers, Luis Zerpa of Venezuela and Peruvian Angelo Aza, prepare to remove bodies of deceased persons who are suspected to have died from the coronavirus, at a public hospital morgue in Lima, Peru, May 5, 2020.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Venezuelans, from left, Luis Zerpa, Luis Brito and Jhoan Faneite, carry a body bag that contains the remains of 51-year-old Marcos Espinoza, who is suspected to have died of the coronavirus, down a steep hill to a waiting hearse in a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, May 8, 2020. “Every day I entrust myself to God so that I don’t catch the disease,” said Faneite, who worked as an electrician in his native Venezuela before migrating to Peru in 2018 with his wife and stepson amid his home country’s years-long economic crisis.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Piedrangel funeral home worker Angelo Aza, of Venezuela, leans on the company van transporting bodies of people suspected of dying from the coronavirus, beside maritime containers installed to keep bodies refrigerated on the grounds of a public hospital in Lima, Peru, May 11, 2020.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Hospital workers carry a body bag, containing the remains of a person suspected to have died from the coronavirus, into a refrigerated maritime container on the grounds of the Hipolito Unanue public hospital, in Lima, Peru, May 15, 2020
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Piedrangel funeral home worker Alexander Carballo, of Venezuela, enters a home to remove the body of a person who is suspected to have died from the coronavirus, in Lima, Peru, May 14, 2020. When other funeral homes refused to pick up the body of the first person who died of COVID-19 in Peru, the owner of Piedrangel and his three brothers saw a business opportunity. The funeral home cremates all COVID-19 victims.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Piedrangel funeral home workers prepare to remove the body of a man, suspected of dying from the coronavirus, from his home in Lima, Peru, May 15, 2020.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A bed sheet moistened with sodium hypochlorite covers the body of a person suspected of dying from the new coronavirus, in Lima, Peru, May 13, 2020.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Ericka Ramirez, 41, cries as Piedrangel funeral home workers collect the corpse of her father, a suspected victim of the coronavirus, in Lima, Peru, May 11, 2020.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A family portrait hangs on a wall in the home of a person who is suspected of dying from the coronavirus, in Lima, Peru, May 14, 2020.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A woman uses a bed sheet to cover the face of her deceased mother-in-law, suspected of dying from the coronavirus, in Lima, Peru, May 14, 2020. Hundreds of people in Peru are dying at home during the pandemic.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Family members grieve as they watch Piedrangel funeral home workers remove the body of a relative suspected of dying from the coronavirus, in Lima, Peru, May 11, 2020.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Rosa Rodriguez poses for a photo holding the marble urn that holds the cremated ashes of her 60-year-old husband, a doctor who is suspected of dying from the coronavirus, on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, May 15, 2020.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Piedrangel funeral home worker Jhoan Faneite, from Venezuela, arranges body bags that hold the remains of people suspected of dying from the coronavirus, outside a public hospital in Lima, Peru, Saturday, May 9, 2020.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A hearse from Piedrangel funeral home carries the body of a person suspected of dying of the coronavirus on a Pacific Coast highway in Lima, Peru, en route to a crematorium. Six days a week during the pandemic, the Piedrangel funeral workers drive hearses through wealthy neighborhoods overlooking the Pacific Ocean as well as through poor areas on hillsides that don't have running water.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Red roses dusted with lime cement rest on a concrete slab covering the coffin of cameraman Mario Bucana, suspected of dying from the coronavirus, at the Camp Fe cemetery in Lima, Peru, May 8, 2020.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A continent away, meanwhile, Abd and Briceño made real the desperation faced by Peru, which has one of the world’s highest incidences of the disease although it has been little noticed by most international media.
After winning the trust of the marginalized Venezuelan migrants who recover the bodies of coronavirus victims in Lima, the pair spent three weeks virtually embedded day and night with the funeral home workers, hiking steep hillsides and squeezing themselves into cramped homes, witnessing scenes of utter devastation.
In one home they came upon the body of Faustino López, who had hanged himself in the living room after testing positive for the disease and being turned away from a government treatment center. López’s wife, already hospitalized with COVID-19, died a week later.
The AP story documenting the body collectors’ work was used by newspapers and websites in the region and around the world and was praised as “stunning” and “amazing” by readers on Twitter.
For intrepid and creative multiformat storytelling emphasized by unforgettable images, Goldman, Abd and Briceño share AP’s Best of the Week honors.
For AP’s complete coverage of the coronavirus:
– AP’s hub for comprehensive all-formats coverage of the virus outbreak.
– Understanding the Outbreak: Stories explaining the new coronavirus.
– One Good Thing: Daily stories of hope and humanity amid the crisis.
– Ground Game: Inside the Outbreak: AP’s podcast series.
- Lives Lost: Stories behind the victims of COVID-19.