Freelance photographer Daniel Cole used contacts he’s built over the past 18 months to secure unique access to an intensive care unit in Marseille, France, documenting how staff, patients and their families were coping during the holidays. His work was front and center of AP’s coronavirus coverage over the holiday period.
Hospital workers pose together for a selfie in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 25, 2021. The hospital, one of France’s largest, has weathered wave after wave of COVID-19.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Hospital worker Houda Mokrani takes a selfie with her colleagues on Christmas Day in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 25, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Hospital worker Sonia Mokhtari prepares a Christmas Eve dinner in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Presents sit beside a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Amelie Khayat says goodbye to her husband Ludo during her visit at the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 23, 2021. Ludo, 41, was recovering after 24 days in a coma and on a ventilator.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Katy Zalinian waits to visit a cousin who is on a ventilator in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 23, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Katy Zalinian places her hand on her cousin, a COVID-19 patient on a ventilator, in the ICU at La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 23, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Medical workers tend to a patient on a ventilator in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 23, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
A patient on a ventilator lies in bed with her son’s hat placed on her chest at the request of the family, in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 23, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Radiographer Coralie Gil prepares to enter a patient’s room in the COVID-19 continued care unit at La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
A nurse makes a chocolate sandwich in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Nurse Medina Bengler feeds a patient in the COVID-19 continued care unit at La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Medical workers transport a patient into the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Ester Sebbagh visits her husband David, 52, in the COVID-19 continued care unit at La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Christmas songs are play on a computer in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Doctors and nurses share a Christmas Eve meal together in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
A hospital worker walks through the COVID-19 ICU before a Christmas Eve meal at La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Emergency room nurse Sonia Harrat takes a break while working on Christmas day at La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 25, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
A religious card, left by the family of a COVID-19 patient on a ventilator, rests beside the patient at La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 23, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Nurses perform timed breathing exercises on a COVID-19 patient on a ventilator in the ICU at La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 31, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
A nurse waits for a blood sample analysis in the COVID-19 ICU at La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 31, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
A nurse watches over a patient on a ventilator in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 31, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
A health care worker bears the impression left by a mask in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 31, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
A patient on a ventilator lies on his stomach in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 31, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Nurses Mariblase Avallone, left, and Bess Tribout embrace during a New Year’s Eve meal in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 31, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Nurse Marie-Laure Satta rubs her face during a pause in her New Year’s Eve shift in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 31, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Nurse Marie-Laure Satta has a cigarette at the end of her New Year’s Eve shift in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Dec. 31, 2021.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Nurse Bess Tribout, center, pops champagne to celebrate New Year’s Day in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Jan. 1, 2022.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Nurse Bess Tribout, center, pours champagne for co-workers to celebrate New Year’s Day in the COVID-19 ICU of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, southern France, Jan. 1, 2022.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Cole spent Christmas and New Year's in La Timone Hospital as medical staff cared for COVID patients and celebrated Christmas with their colleagues, not with their loved ones. He also captured intimate moments as family members visited patients.
But beyond the outstanding still images, Cole was reporting in all formats: His text piece perfectly complemented the photos, while his Only on AP video saw prominent usage by AP customers in France and internationally.