Erika, a traveling nurse, working with Covid-19 patients at Lenox Hill Hospital inNew York City, listens with great emotion as a young man sings from atop a car,“America the Beautiful”, at 7pm on Mother’s Day. Erika was born in Brazil and immigrated to the United States 36 years ago and is now an American citizen. She has volunteered to come to New York City from North Carolina where she lives-as she felt that this is where she is needed most-she will stay for 6 weeks to help Covid patients.

May 10, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 43-001

Earlier I photographed a bus driver who had pulled up to the corner of 81st and Columbus. As I was photographing him through the front windshield of his bus, he put his hands in front as if to make a prayer. There are so many people that make our world go around, every day, that work hard, often for fairly low pay, that truly are essential to our lives. I truly hope that when this is all over, and it will be over, that as a society, and a country, that we don't simply pay thanks to these heroes, in a sort of bourgeois way, as happens so often, like thinking that thanking the troops for service is a form of patriotism though so many people would never allow their own children to go and fight-I hope that we will review on so many levels are sense of priority as a society-and make sure that every one has access to healthcare as a right and all children have access to good public education. If there could be anything positive that emerges from this horrible war and ordeal-it may be that as a society we review and learn from this experience-that not only are we all in this together-but in a world where we can all be proud-fairness and decency must be what we value most.

April 4,2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 12-001

Today, a wonderful man was put to rest. Anthony “Tony” Thomas worked as a Paramedic for 36 years. On Easter Sunday, April 12th, he died of Covid-19 related causes. He was a true hero. A ceremony took place today, April 30, at the McLaughlin and Sons Funeral Home in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn, New York. Tony was sent off on his way to burial with a ceremony with his friends and colleagues from all over the New York Area. He was a hero. May he rest in peace. God bless.

April 30, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 32-001

I asked Shannone, 26, who works at Lenox Hill Hospital if her life had changed since working with Covid-19 patients and her reply was, “significantly”. “It’s one thing to have an impression from the outside, but when you see the severity of the situation-it is something you’d have to see to understand”.I haven’t see from the inside what Shannon was describing, but looking into her eyes-I could feel that she certainly had!.There are so many Shannone's in our world today-that have had the weight of the world on their shoulders-devoting so much of the their humanity towards trying to help us survive and win this war. Most of them will remain forever nameless, without recognition, often working for relatively little compensation-and for us-their hearts and lives will be changed forever for having seen with their eyes-what most of us will never have to. God bless Shannon. God bless all of the healthcare and essential workers.

May 2, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 31-001

Adream, Yonte, and Joran, artists, out for some air in Times Square. I asked them where they lived and they told me they live in Harlem. I told them I lived in Harlem for 7 years and asked how things were there and they offered a memorable reply: “You know something is really wrong because now you never hear any sirens”.

March 20, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 01-001

A woman rides a bus up Amsterdam Avenue near 81 st. Street.

March 24, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 03-004

Ambulance workers take a patient into the emergency room at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.

March 29, 2020. © Peter Turnley

ID# 07-002

Pedro, 21, grew up in Spanish Harlem. He rides the Staten Island Ferry to visit his girlfriend. I asked him how he was doing and he told me, “It’s kind of rough-I was looking for a job, and this is not a good time.”

March 26, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 04-002

Today, I saw a lone elder woman named Mary, sitting on a bench in the rain at a place only yards from where I lived at 133rd and Lenox in the center of Harlem. We spoke and after asking if I could make a photograph of her, I asked how she was making it and she replied, “by the grace of God”. She looked to be about the same as my mother who recently passed at 94. As I photographed, two young men walked by and said to me, “why don’t you give her your umbrella”. I walked up to her and handed her my umbrella that I had just bought an hour earlier. I turned and look up the street towards the two young me, and saw that they had been watching me and they broke out into big smiles and put their thumbs up. I wish it had been my idea first, but as I walked away-it occurred to me that in this moment, not only we all together in this situation, but we can help each other become better people.

March 28, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 06-001

A group of ICU nurses from Lenox Hill Hospital on New York’s Upper Eastside. Sean, 30, one of the nurses, told me, “diversity and unity. There is strength in diversity and unity . We are a team and have to stay together.”

May 3, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 36-030

Frontline workers from Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, hold vigil to honor all victims of COVID-19.

May 20, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 51-004

Fabrice, 28, an ambulance driver behind Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, one of the hospital in the US treating the largest number of coronavirus patients. I asked Fabrice if he was scared, and he told me, “no, but this is my first shift during this crisis. ”

March 29, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 07-001

Late in the day, I came across two women, Jocelyn and Dorothy sitting a safe distance apart on a park bench-they’ve been friends for 60 years. They live near each other on the Upper Westside. They told me they call there meetings outside on the bench, “a bench date”. I asked how they were making it and Jocelyn responded, “It’s rather bizarre to say the least.” Dorothy told me that as a result of this crisis, “We have to get a new system where the people come first. We had a whole civil rights movement in my time-what went wrong? Cuomo says he is surprised that the fatality rate is higher with people if color. He said we have to study this. You don’t have to study anything-just call me.”

April 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 22-008

A laundry worker washes clothes at a shop on Amsterdam Avenue.

March 23, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 02-006

Cleo, Clara, Mariana, Richard and Mike are all are healthcare workers at Mount Sinai Hospital currently working with Covid-19 patients. One commented “it is a very scary-sad situation”.

April 19, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 26-003

Clifford Jordan, 61, stands at bus stop on Amsterdam near where he lives. He told me he was out because he needs money to eat.

March 24, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 03-002

A group of ICU nurses from Lenox Hill Hospital on New York’s Upper East Siide. Sean, 30, on the right, told me, “diversity and unity. There is strenght the in diversity and unity . We are a team and have to stay together.”

May 3, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 36-001

Lian, 44, is originally from China and told me she speaks very little English and works as a home attendant on Staten Island and takes the ferry daily there for her work.

March 26, 2020 © Peter Turnley.

ID# 04-009

Masks for sale, The South Bronx.

May 14, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 46-001

Byron 23, and Gerson, 21 are originally from Guatemala and have lived in the US for two and three years. “There is now no work-we work in restaurants”.

April 19, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 26-019

Carla,32, and ambulance worker. “ You do what you got to do. We’re overwhelmed”

March 29, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 07-005

Frontline worker from Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, participates in a vigil to honor all victims of COVID-19.

May 20, 2020 © Peter Turnley.

ID# 53-001

A homeless man, (Raymond I believe), sits on Broadway. As I walked south towards Times Square, I saw so many homeless people-more than I had ever noticed in the city before-possibly because there was almost no one else on the streets. When I spoke to this gentleman, I told him I had been for a long time a war photographer, and he told me, “I was in Nam-I saw a lot of war photographers over there”.

March 20, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 01-002

There are so many unsung heroes in the city doing jobs at risk that help us all survive. Aldalkiris 21, works at Zaybars, one of the only stores open on the Upper Westside.

March 28, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 06-003

Each night, at the corner of 77th and Lexington at 7pm, the healthcare workers of Lenox Hill Hospital come out and the local residents of the Upper Eastside express to them their gratitude for helping us all survive. Every time I have been present at this moment-the woman seen in this photograph appears to participate-people of the neighborhood tell me her name is Nora. Most often she doesn't want to be photographed, but tonight, she stopped to look me and my camera in the eye for a good while. Certain expressions and people embody the mood of a moment. Tonight the eyes of Nora spoke for all of us-with confused fear and hope for our future-and our health and survival-yet ready to engage in the present, in order to forward in the future.

May 12, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 44-001

On the train tracks of Richards’ train, I encountered Alex, a train conductor who works for Metro North. “Our families are scared for us. We’ve had some sick and some deaths among our colleagues. Stay safe, hug the one’s you love, and follow the guidelines-that is all we can do”.

April 18, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 25-007

Elmhurst Hospital, Queens, New York.

March 29, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 24-001

Yanan, a 30 year old woman from Wuhan, China, living in New York, goes out for a jog across the Brooklyn Bridge.

March 26, 2020 © Peter Turnley.

ID# 04-001

Darrell, a resident of New York’s Upper East Side, thanks the healthcare workers of Lenox Hill Hospital at 7pm on this night.

May 2, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 36-004

Tony, an electrician of Egyptian-Sicilian heritage, did push-ups with his friend, Joanna on his back. There was no doubt how strong Tony was feeling finally being in the sun near the sea on this spring day. Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.

May 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 49-022

A doorman stands proudly with his uniform and protective mask at a building on the Upper Westside.

March 23, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 02-004

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Worldwide, on the Upper Westside of Manhattan, all over New York on every street and every borough, all over the United States, Italy, France, England, Cuba-on every continent-and most every country-when the clock strikes a certain time every night-people all over the world are united by their expression of gratitude that comes from deep in the heart and from every cell of the body-for the many, many, many heroes of this moment that are risking their lives, to save ours! Tonight, on the street where I stay in New York, at the strike of 7pm, an explosion of applause, shouting, and yelling began. People come out of their doorways-people hang from windows, cars honk their horns, and Kimberly, seen here, came down from her apartment to stand in the street this one night-to have a new point of view on this moment. Kim is a pastry chef and a flight attendant, not working at this moment, and she is originally from a small farm town in Minnesota, and has lived now in New York for the past 31 years. She told me, "But, I'm a New Yorker now! It's in my blood! What we are doing here-thanking the healthcare workers and all of the essential workers-this is a simple gesture anyone can do. I feel like it is my civic duty to stay inside. I'm not doing anything, and this makes me feel like I am doing something. I have friends that have friends that are healthcare workers and they say this helps them and encourages them. I usually clap from the window-but today I wanted to see what it was like downstairs". Kim also lived through 9/11 in New York and did volunteer work then.Kim told me that a lot of days, she goes through ups and downs. I do too. We all do. But when the day ends, and we all come out, and shout, and clap-our day ends with an expression of thanks, and gratitude, and a form of victory! And this gives strength, to approach the night, while we wait for the light of tomorrow.

April 14, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 21-001

Joel and Moshe, two brothers and part of a family of 9 brothers and sisters, living in Brooklyn,wait for their 83-year-old father, who had been at Lenox Hills Hospital almost 5 weeks with Covid-19, and at least two weeks on a ventilator-to be discharged from the hospital after recovering. They allowed me to document and to share in the beauty of this emotional moment of seeing their father, on his way home.

May 7, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 38-001

Gabriel, 22, Fedex delivery man delivers packages on the Upper Westside.

April 6, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 13-001

At the back of the hospital where dozens of ambulances were lined up, I spoke to an ambulance medic, Ethan, 29. When we began to talk he was on his mobile phone, and stopped to speak to me-and said, “that’s my wife-she is scared for me” I asked him if he had a child and he said yes, and all of the sudden, over his phone came the loud beautiful voice of a child, “I love you daddy”.

March 29, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 07-003

Natalia, originally from Odessa, in the Ukraine, stands on the sidewalk in the rain at 83rd and Columbus.

March 23, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 02-002

As I stood in the train station at Times Square, a south bound #3 train arrived in the station. The train conductor leaned out the train and said to me, google me, I am know as “the happy conductor”.

March 20, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 01-020

My eyes encountered a lone man, walking with a cane, across the main hall of Grand Central Station. Very often, when I photograph, I don’t simply make one photograph-particularly if it is of a person-I like to do what I call “stay with it-work a situation”. Life evolves every second with new gestures, body language, expression, and often gets more interesting. After making an initial photograph of this elder man named Richard-I introduced myself. Richard told me he lived on 23rd Street and was heading towards Larchmont, New York. I followed him as he walked to his train-literally the only passenger on this commuter train. He sat at the front of the train and told me he likes to sit there because it feels safer. Richard worked for 30 years in maintenance for the NY Board of Education. He told me, “I grew up during the depression and remember World War II. This moment we are living through is an enormous economic catastrophe. Poor people are in big trouble. I recall in my childhood getting ration tickets for food. What we are living through now will be worse. Society has grown larger and more complex.”

April 18, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 25-002

At the back of the hospital where dozens of ambulances were lined up, I spoke to an ambulance medic, Mike Galloway. He told me, “With 9/11, once it happened, you could see it coming. This is an invisible enemy. We don’t see what is coming. I could be sitting next to my partner and he could have it and we don’t know it. We don’t have enough protective gear and I’m not the only one that feels that way.” He works with an ambulance unit attached to Jamaica Hospital but now, attached to the New York Fire Department. Hospital.

March 29, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 07-012

Tonight I went out for groceries and as I walked down my street on the Upper Westside, I saw a beautiful young family sitting in their windowsill. I stopped and introduced myself and told them I was their neighbor and asked if I could make a photograph. They asked me what I was doing and I told them I was making a photo documentation of New York, for myself. It has been so nice to not come on strong saying to people I work for some prominent publication-but to tell the truth-I am making photographs for myself, and for the world, of this moment that affects us all. I asked them how they were doing. Maria, the mother told me, "Some days are hard and some not as much". I asked how the children were doing, Isabel, 3, and Milo, 2 months. They told me they have learned a lot about germs, and I replied that I couldn't imagine what that would feel like as a concern when you are three years old. They mentioned that Milo, 2 months, could tell that they were home much more often-and he sleeps less. As we spoke, suddenly, on the strike of 7pm, the whole street erupted in applause, and shouting of thanks to all of the healthcare workers and essential workers. This has happened now, every night for the past 5 nights. I know that this is happening all over New York, Italy, France, and likely all over the country. After making a few frames, I put down my camera and began to applaud and shout with all of my might as well. As Mark, the father, said to me afterwards-this is very cathartic. When the applause died down, Maria asked me how I was doing. Just the question meant a lot to me-from a person I had just met. This is a different story than any I have ever covered. I too and in the middle of this one. And I have a strong need, as I live alone at this time-to be with others-and the world. We are all in this together. I will never forget soon after 9/11 when I was in a sports bar in New York to see the first game the New York Yankees played. When a Yankee made the first score-everyone in the bar jumped up in down like I had never see people do before-and the opposing team came out of the dug out to applaud and cheer. It didn't make a bit of difference if the Yankees won the game that night-it was enough that they were back on the field. It is going to take time and it will be hard, and it will change us forever. But I will tell you one thing-nothing can keep us down. And, I will clap and shout that as loud as I can, every night at 7pm, until we kick it in the teeth.

April 1, 2020 @ Peter Turnley.

ID# 10-001

Altura, 28, originally from Mexico now lives in Spanish Harlem.

April 19, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 26-020

Myrtle, from Brooklyn, sat alone looking at the ocean in peace and with dignity. She has lost her apartment during this crisis and is now living in a shelter, and told me, “hopefully things will come through soon”. Coney Island, New York.

May 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 49-005

A funeral ceremony for Anthony “Tony” Thomas-a legendary Paramedic in the New York City area, who died of Covid-19 related causes. Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York.

April 30, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 32-008

When I started my day, I went out to get a coffee at a local store, and came across, Alex, 52, from Brooklyn, who works for GoFundMe, and cleans the streets of New York and takes care of picking up the trash from the trash bins on city street corners. I watched him work and saw the care and concentration he showed in his efforts. It reminded me of the time my father pointed out to me when I was 10 years old, a gentleman cleaning the windows of a diner restaurant. My father said to me, “Peter, watch that man work. He wants to be the best window washer in the world, and if you go forward and do anything and everything you do in life as well as that man does his job, you will be okay”.

April 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 22-006

A funeral ceremony for Anthony “Tony” Thomas-a legendary Paramedic in the New York City area, who died of Covid-19 related causes. Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York.

April 30, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 32-020

After the 7pm cheering and applause for healthcare workers in front of Lenox Hill Hospital on the Upper Eastside of New York, two traveling nurses, Erika and Simi, who have come to New York to volunteer to help Covid-19 patients-give each other a big hug. They had just met each other that day working side by side during the same work shift. Simi told me, “nursing is a big sisterhood”.

May 10, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 42-001

Today, as I walked up the street in the neighborhood where I stay, a voice called out, "Peter....!". I turned to see a postal worker with a mask on and she said, "Peter, it's Carline-I used to deliver your mail. " I couldn't believe she could remember my name because it has been awhile-but then as we spoke-I discovered that her good memory is only one of her many qualities-courage, decency, and kindness are clearly high on the list of this heroes incredible list of attributes. I asked Carline if she was scared, and she replied, "I take it one day at a time. We had two of our postal workers who have passed already". I asked her if she had children and she told me she has a boy and a girl, and also lives with her mother who is in her eighties. Carline, drives every day four hours each each day to and from the Poconos and is now working 10-12 hour shifts of delivering the mail. I asked her why she does this and she replied, "because I feel so much love for my customers, and a sense of duty, and I need the money".

April 1, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 21-002

Andre, 56, lost his place where he stayed and lives temporarily at Bowery mission. He said to me, “we’re blessed.”

April 10, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 18-008

Jennifer is a doctor at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. She is a dermatologist by training, but at this moment, she is treating coronavirus patients. When asked how things were going in her works she replied, “Difficult! It’s good to see the camaraderie among my colleagues at the hospital. I am scared for myself and for my husband. But, this is what I was called to do. Everyone has to step up. It’s been a rush-constant turn-over. Don’t have time to process. It is slowing down. Mount Sinai is on the front line. Every night, at 7pm, when I hear the sounds of support all around here in NY, it makes me tear up. In the community last night everyone wassinging “New York-New York”.

April 17, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 23-002

Firemen from with FDNY 43 Truck “El Barrio’s Bravest” in Spanish Harlem.

April 19, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 26-015

Frontline workers from Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, hold vigil to honor all victims of COVID-19.

May 20, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 52-001

A homeless man sits near Times Square.

March 20, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 01-016

Today I have been inside most of the day. I went out to buy some food at a local grocery store, and I came across Priscilla, worshiping the sun. She was careful to be six feet from her neighbor and I stayed that distance while making this photograph. We spoke for a short while. She told me, "it is so sad to stay inside all day-I had to come out and get some sun". We all understand well her sentiments. Some times there are people and gestures that become a metaphor for something many are feeling and thinking.

March 27, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 05-001

“Bear”, wearing a mask, plays music with a friend, on a gorgeous spring day at Coney Island.

May 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 49-003

I encountered a man walking north towards Columbus Circle wearing a social distancing apparatus.

March 20, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 01-007

C. Marsh who told me he is a doctor, waits for a train home at the 125th Street train station in Harlem. I asked him who he felt about the situation, and he said, “please don’t aske me that-it’s been a really long day.”

March 24, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 03-016

Fabrice, 28, an ambulance driver behind Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, one of the hospital in the US treating the largest number of coronavirus patients. I asked Fabrice if he was scared, and he told me, “no, but this is my first shift during this crisis. ”

March 29, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 07-010

A used protective mask, on the street in front of Elmhurst Hospitals in Queens. Mike Galloway, an ambulance worker told me, “We don’t have enough protective gear and I’m not the only one that feels that way.”

March 29, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 07-008

Rachelle and Rob on a ferry to Staten Island.They are both from Parkersburg, W. Virginia, and Rachelle is a traveling nurse who has quit her job as a nurse in a small town in Ohio, to come work with coronavirus patients in an ER in a hospital in Queens, NY.. Rachelle served in the Army as a nurse in Afghanistan,. Her boyfriend Rob, is a welder and has come to visit her on her day off.

April 21, 2020. © Peter Turnley

ID# 28-001

A funeral ceremony for Anthony “Tony” Thomas-a legendary Paramedic in the New York City area, who died of Covid-19 related causes. Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York.

April 30, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 32-012

My eyes encountered a lone man, walking with a cane, across the main hall of Grand Central Station. Very often, when I photograph, I don’t simply make one photograph-particularly if it is of a person-I like to do what I call “stay with it-work a situation”. Life evolves every second with new gestures, body language, expression, and often gets more interesting. After making an initial photograph of this elder man named Richard-I introduced myself. Richard told me he lived on 23rd Street and was heading towards Larchmont, New York. I followed him as he walked to his train-literally the only passenger on this commuter train. He sat at the front of the train and told me he likes to sit there because it feels safer. Richard worked for 30 years in maintenance for the NY Board of Education. He told me, “I grew up during the depression and remember World War II. This moment we are living through is an enormous economic catastrophe. Poor people are in big trouble. I recall in my childhood getting ration tickets for food. What we are living through now will be worse. Society has grown larger and more complex.”

April 18, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 25-003

As I crossed a street corner, near Broadway and 85th street, I saw a couple walking both hand in hand. There was something about the way they walked together that felt very happy, and while they were both wearing masks-there was a lift to their step that caught my eye. I called out to them and asked if I could make their photograph. They said yes, and walked across the street towards me and stopped to speak. I introduced myself and they told me their names are Sid and Cheryl. I asked them how old they were and Sid told me he is 87 and Cheryl is 70. I told them they looked beautiful together and it was nice to see them holding hands. Sid said, “well, you know, we’re newlyweds.” I asked them when they were married and they told me 6 months ago. I told them, “wow, this is really a honeymoon under fire-how is it going”. They both replied at the same time, “We laugh and love. We are so compatible”. Sid told me they sneak out sometimes for walks, and Cheryl said almost like she was sharing a wonderful secret, “we dance together all of the time in the living room”. I asked them if there was any notion of life they were taking with them from these times, and Sid repled, “live every day, because you never know what will happen today”.

April 12, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 19-001

Photograph by my good friend, Michelle Zaffino.

May 23, 2020. © Michelle Zaffino.

ID# 54-001

A gentleman with one of his first names being Laurent was out walking on Amsterdam Ave. in the 90’s. As I photographed him, he looked up at the sky and said, “it is raining hard, but it is a beautiful day!”. It is this kind of spirit that I have encountered worldwide by so many people in very difficult situations that touches my heart so deeply and gives me hope.

March 23, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 02-001

A funeral ceremony for Anthony “Tony” Thomas-a legendary Paramedic in the New York City area, who died of Covid-19 related causes. Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York.

April 30, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 32-022

I encountered walking by the reservoir in Central Park, Melissa, 39 who works in arts management. She told me that she was still working on projects already established before the crisis but feared she would soon have to file for unemployment. Melissa is very proud of her Korean American heritage. Born in the U.S. to Korean American parents, she told me she has traveled widely and never felt fear. This sentiment has changed since the beginning of this crisis-she related how one day recently when was walking in Central Park, and a 50-60 Caucasian man approached her and asked her if she was a drug addict and needed help. When she ignored him, he called her a “f…ing piece of s…t”. Melissa loves New York and told me that she hopes that this city which is known for having people that push themselves so hard-may take this moment of self-care with them into the future, and that she hopes this moment will encourage others to be more kind to each other. Melissa volunteers several days a week at a soup kitchen in the Bowery called the Bowery Mission. My heart was so touched by this example of a person, having reason to fear for their own survival-how she so humbly and heroically risks her life several times a week to help people less fortunate than herself.

April 7, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 16-002

Daniel, 26, is am EMT, and he has just delivered a patient to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, one of the New York Hospitals with the most cases of coronavirus. “ It’s tough. It’s a lot at once. Had a lot of patients with symptoms. We call them fever / coughs."

March 29, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 07-022

A young couple, John and Megan, stood in the main hall getting their photograph made, holding a “I Love New York” tee-shirt. I asked them why they had come to do this. They explained that they were expecting a baby in September and they wanted to have a memory to show of what the world looked like before the baby is born.

April 18, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 25-010

George and Regina, both born in Haiti, have known each other for a long time-but their romance is young, and they sat, both masked, clearly joyful to be outside, and together. Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.

May 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 49-008

Frontline workers from Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, hold vigil to honor all victims of COVID-19.

May 20, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 51-002

On Friday night, after photographing what has become a 7pm ritual of people coming outside to applaud and cheer and thank the healthcare and essential workers in front of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York-I encountered Nini-walking with bags of possessions and a blanket over her shoulder. She asked me where the entrance of the hospital was. I showed her the way. I was reminded of the very stark reality of how literally millions, 30 million, people are currently without work in the United States, and millions not sure of how they will pay their rent, mortgage, food, and expenses. We have entered a period where the disparity of wealth among Americans may be more exacerbated than ever before, and while this is a crisis that affects everyone-it is a crisis that will affect everyone unequally.

May 9, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 42-014

April 19, 2020. © Peter Turnley

ID# 27-003

Arthur, 42, is a banker on Wall Street. He lives two blocks from his firms office. He told me, “I grew up homeless as a kid, and so I remain optimistic that things will always get better. This is temporary”.

March 26, 2020 © Peter Turnley.

ID# 04-004

When we ride the train of life, and we feel alone, we must remember, we are one! We are all in this together. Now, and when this is over-over being a qualified word-as things may well never be the same-we must remember the heroes of this moment-my god-what heroes-the hospital workers, postal workers, delivery men and women, police, grocery store clerks, and on and on. What a spectacle of amazing humanity. Never before have we seen so clearly who are the heroes. May we readjust our ideals, and values, and stand up and shout and applaud the beauty of the human soul-which is among us-in the daily life of people that will never be recognized for their heroism-but go about their lives-showing us, how to live ours'. What beauty, what humanity. God bless.

March 27, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 15-001

Kevin, 35, works as a garbage collector-another of the many unsung heroes of this moment.

March 28, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 06-006

Lenox Hill Hospital.

May 7, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 41-001

Daniel and Emily live in Brooklyn and they've been trying to plan a wedding for awhile. Daniel's parents immigrated to the US from Mexico and he was born in New York, and Emily immigrated to the US from Equador when she was a very young girl. They both met in New York. "planning the wedding under these circumstances was very stressful. With the crisis, the marriage office in New York is closed, so we had to go to New Jersey where we could get a marriage license and were married there today. We had to limit the number of people that could attend our wedding. This is not the wedding we wanted, but it is the one we needed. We are happy despite everything."

April 25, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 30-007

Lee and Robin, a couple from Queens, have both been taking care of family members and haven’t been able to spend much time together these past two months. I saw them hugging in a beautiful embrace, with their faces raised towards the sun-in a moment of true beauty of being reunited. Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.

May 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 49-020

A funeral ceremony for Anthony “Tony” Thomas-a legendary Paramedic in the New York City area, who died of Covid-19 related causes. Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York.

April 30, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 32-014

A train conductor, smiles at Times Square.

March 20, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 01-020

Nancy, and Sky, the dog. French bulldog Sky was a model for Coach when she was 4 months. "We're not doing great. We heard on the news that is a lot worse than they were thinking. Somebody 39 died today-healthy. Sky's life has changed-she notices things are different. She has a lot of friends-she is a bit isolated. Animals sense things."

March 31, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 09-015

A Coronavirus Kiss! I was speaking to a friend last night outside of Lenox Hill Hospital-and suddenly to my left-just outside a subway entrance-I noticed this tender, masked embrace.

May 13, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 45-001

The emergency room of Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.

March 29, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 07-011

Men stand outside Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, one of New York’s hospitals with the largest number of coronavirus patients.

March 29, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 07-022

A funeral ceremony for Anthony “Tony” Thomas-a legendary Paramedic in the New York City area, who died of Covid-19 related causes. Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York

.April 30, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 50-001

Anna is a registered nurse in the Neo Natal ICU at Mount Sinai Hospital. I asked her if she was treating Covid-19 patients and she told me, “We get babies that are from mothers that are Covid-19 positive. My family is worried every day. Praying. Not scared.”

April 19, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 26-005

Firemen from with FDNY 43 Truck “El Barrio’s Bravest” stand outside Mount Sinai Hospital and cheer and applaud the courageous work all hospital and essential workers are doing during the time of this coronavirus crisis.

April 19, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 26-002

People stand in line waiting for food at The Bowery Mission in New York City.

April 10, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 18-019

I encountered two gentlemen standing on the sidewalk about half a block from where I lived for seven years on Lenox Ave. and 133 Street. I asked the man on the left his name. He told me, “my name is OK.” I asked how he was making it and he told me, “I woke up. Now on the other hand, I can’t say I’m making it, because every time I get close-they find another way to pull you down”. I asked him how long he had lived in Harlem and he said, “a couple of days”. He asked me how long I had lived there and I told him seven years”. He then said, “well, I was born here in 1936”. I’m not the best at math-but a quick calculation indicated that he has lived in Harlem 84 years. Just before I said goodbye, the gentleman on the right said to me, “Always remember, time does not wait for you-be safe!”

March 28, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 06-011

Giovanni, originally from Albania, but who has lived many years in Italy and now New York, waits to take the train home at the 125th Street Train Station in Harlem. I told him I had spent much time in Albania during the war in Kosovo, and at other times. This made him smile.

March 24, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 03-018

Bella, Kristen, Cameron, and Rachel are all nurses at Mount Sinai, Hospital currently working with coronavirus patients. They stood outside the hospital at 7pm as the firemen from FDNY Truck 43 “El Barrio’s Bravest”, cheered and applauded their gratitude for the brave work all hospital workers and essential workers are doing during this crisis.

April 19, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 26-001

Today I stayed home all day, and went out to buy some groceries. As I returned where I stay on a street on the Upper Westside, I saw a man standing on the sidewalk, waving with a gentle smile to someone in a window. I stopped and the gentleman departed, and in the window I saw Roxie, a 90 year old woman, who everyone knows on the this street. At this moment in her life, she can not walk, and she is always sitting at the window, and is known to almost all residents on the street. I made this photograph of her, and when I was finished, she put her hand to her mouth and blew me a kiss. I asked her is she was okay and she replied, "I am fine, and if I need anything I will give you a call". We are living through a serious storm that has blown into all of our lives. Roxie put everything into a certain perspective for me today. She has lived through 90 years of good and bad weather, and after all this time, she looks out at the world, happy to connect with everyone who lives near her, and gives us all hope and courage. If I can find and demonstrate only a fraction of the grace she shows, always, I will feel very blessed. And, this moment, and this photograph, remind me, with all of the beauty of the freedom to travel, there is glory, and light, to be noticed and found, right next door.

March 30, 2020 © Peter Turnley.

ID# 08-001

Johnathan, from Brooklyn, is a veteran and comes every day with a US flag to the pier and stays most days all day, from early morning. “I love this country. We’re in a crisis now-we need some hope. We have to be more careful of each other and we need to appreciate each other more”. Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.

May 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 49-013

Simi, left, is a traveling nurse, from Los Angeles, and has also volunteered to come help Covid-19 patients in NY for many weeks. She told me that her sense of duty had called her-she realized the epicenter of the crisis in the US and the world was in New York City-and she felt needed here. Simi told me, “nursing is a big sisterhood”.

May 10, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 42-013

Jamie, a resident of the Upper Westside, claps and expresses her gratitude for all of the healthcare and essential workers. This takes place every evening at 7pm.

April 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 22-002

Frontline workers from Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, hold vigil to honor all victims of COVID-19.

May 20, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 51-012

Harry, 63, stands at the back of a subway car next to a homeless man that has taken shelter in the train. I ask him what he does in life and he replied, “I just try to help out.”

March 26, 2020 ©Peter Turnley.

ID# 04-007

Dan and Shelly, residents of the Upper Westside, come out every evening at 7pm, to express their gratitude to the healthcare and essential workers. “This is not a political statement. We are all in this together-all New Yorkers. This our gesture of solidarity. We look forward all day long to 7pm.

April 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 22-013

A bit more than a week ago, I stood behind Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, behind a very busy emergency room entrance with many ambulances. As I was speaking to a nurse named Melissa-a stretcher went by towards an ambulance on the street. Melissa told me she thought it was a Covid-19 patient going home because of the PPE gear the ambulance EMTls were wearing. This was not entirely a happy scene. The patient appeared to be quite troubled and was yelling at the nurses in somewhat confused language. But, just as the patient was put into the back of the ambulance-he put his hands in prayer.

May 15, 2020. © Peter Turnley

ID# 56-001

Al, 53. collects cans on 86 street for money for food for himself and his dog, LaBela. He has to take them all the way back to Brooklyn where he lives to collect the money, because everything is closed where he usually goes on the Upper Westside. He usually makes $28 for food for him and his dog, I asked him what he thought of the situation, and he replied, “I’m putting up 4 fingers-he’s going to get 4 more years. I’m not a fan. “

March 31, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 09-010

Djera, 59, a nurse originally from Mali. She had stepped out of the hospital for a break, and just before re-entering put on her mask-so full of humidity we could almost not see each other, I asked her how she was doing and she told me in French-"c'est dure! (it's tough)". Lincoln Hospital, South Bronx, New York.

May 15, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 47-001

A young man runs by the Resevoir in Central Park wearing a cloth mask, which has now been ordered by the Governor of New York for all person when they are outside. Monday was one of the most beautiful early spring days yet in New York, and after now weeks of lock-down-the sunshine meant so much to everyone.

April 6, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 13-003

I asked Mohammed, a taxi driver from Bangladesh, how he felt at this moment, and he replied, “I am scared to death”.

March 23, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 02-005

Sy, originally from Senegal, waits to shop at Zaybars on he Upper Westside.

March 31, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 09-007

Earlier-an ambulance was pulling out of the tent hospital area and I met Karolyne, an EMT, originally from Brazil. She and her colleague had just delivered to the field hospital a Covid-19 patient from Queens. She told me most of the calls her ambulance was responding to were for Covid-19 patients. She looked out at this tent field hospital in the middle of an American city and said to me: “this looks like a war scenario”. I asked her if she was scared and she replied,“I just do my job”.

April 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 22-012

As I exited Zabar's yesterday afternoon. the store that has essentially kept me alive with food these past three weeks, I saw this gentleman standing in line waiting to enter the store. I had my camera on my shoulder as I always do, and upon seeing this man-me wearing a mask-I shouted, "you are so handsome, do you mind if I make a photograph of you". Without speaking, he nodded his head in approbation and I made this photograph. I then asked him his name, and he made a motion again without speaking that it was not necessary to know his name. He is right. It isn't necessary to know his name. I have thought a lot over night about this man and this moment. It is true he is not wearing a mask, and please, do not make any comments to that effect-any comment won't change the fact that yes-he is not wearing a mask. But maybe he was doing something, many things, more than that in this case. This man, who clearly has lived a few years of this past century and certainly has seen a lot in his own life-with his choice of clothes, his hat, his gloves, his posture, his cane, his way of being-maybe he has chosen on this Passover and Easter weekend, to stand up, and with the elegance and grace which is clearly part of who he is-he has chosen to make a defiant statement at this moment and say clearly and loudly, "F.... You" to coronavirus. "You can try-but you will not take away my dignity, my pride, my courage, my hope, and my life-so just go away, and don't even try to "F" with me ". And maybe that was his way of saying this for all of us. There are somethings one will never be able to purchase on the shelf of a store-pride, dignity, courage, hope, determination, resilience, humility, decency, and love. And, like so many moments in my life when I have encountered people that have taught me lessons of life I couldn't have learned in any other way than from observing them-I thank this man for standing up for all of us. God bless him, and God bless us all.

April 9, 2020. @ Peter Turnley.

ID# 17-001

The casket of a victim of coronavirus-19 waits to go to burial.

April, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 51-001

María, 67, lives in Spanish Harlem and came to the US from Panama in 1959. “I just like to come out and and get the sun. You can do that in my country. It is not as safe here anymore, particularly at night. I have a little money saved up that will hold me for a few months, no food stamps. I hope it will be over soon. I live alone. It’s harder now then it used to be.”

April 19, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 26-022

Joel and Moshe, two brothers and part of a family of 9 brothers and sisters, living in Brooklyn,wait for their 83-year-old father, who had been at Lenox Hills Hospital almost 5 weeks with Covid-19, and at least two weeks on a ventilator-to be discharged from the hospital after recovering. They allowed me to document and to share in the beauty of this emotional moment of seeing their father, on his way home.

May 7, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 38-008

April 21, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 28-002

Yesterday, I walked to the Post Office, and before walking in, a man exited the Post Office wearing a mask that exuded the look of a bank robber. I told him that and he laughed, and we began to talk. Eric, 64, was an orphan originally from Detroit. He told me he had been a fashion model and had traveled the world and had made a good living- “but I was born in the gutter”. He was adopted and when he was an adult, he tracked down his birth mother. The first time he spoke to her on the phone, he said to his birth mother, “I’ll bet you think of me on my birthday” and she replied, “I don’t even know your birthday-I don’t even know your name”. He has worked out daily his whole life-and has always asked himself “am I ready to save my own life.” He explained with his frequent world travels for work- “I am used to self-isolating, and since I was an orphan-I have learned to appreciate gratitude for all”.

March 31, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 09-001

A homeless man finds shelter for sleep on a train at the Times Square Station.

March 20, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 01-014

As I walked home, I saw Jamie in a windowsill on a street near where I stay. Jamie, 26, is a pastry chef and is now unemployed because of the crisis. She sat in the windowsill, with a bottle of Tequila, wearing a welder’s dust protection mask, and was on the phone using a “House Party” app to speak simultaneously with friends in Texas, Virginia, and Maine. She told me she will likely to have to move in with her parents and with a laugh said- “they can’t deny me”. Her father works arranging supplies for the Army and has been involved in equipping the Javits Center that has opened up in New York a new temporary hospital center with beds for the surge of coronavirus patients in this city that is the epicenter of the crisis in the world at this moment. Jamie told me she is fine as long as she stays inside and told me she has watched many television shows of late-she asked me if I had seen the “The Tiger King” (I have not) and told me. “you should-its’ worth it”.

April 7, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 16-003

Eric, 50, stands with his fellow colleagues that are all subcontractors working New York’s MTA. They told me that they have not stopped working during this lockdown.

March 26, 2020 © Peter Turnley.

ID# 04-011

People social-distance in front of a store on 125th Street in Harlem.

March 28, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 06-007

Two young sisters, Maya and Makayla, 8 and 9 years old, roller skated down the pier with their masks on. Their parents told me this was their first time out to Coney Island since the crisis began. Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.

May 16, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 49-004

Under an underpass on the East side of Central Park, Chi, in her 20ties, originally from Tokyo played the Cello. Her music was profoundly beautiful, and she told that during this crisis she likes to play Bach and Tchaikovsky and music in G major. She said to me, “. Everything must be based on live and light. I pray for peace.” A father, Matt, stood with his almost 2 yr. old daughter Zoe, listening to the music. This reminded me of my mother was who a pianist and every night of my childhood when I went to bed, I would hear her playing the piano. Listening to Chi, play such beautiful life affirming music at this time made me miss my mother who passed only 6 months ago-so much. When I left, I thanked Chi, and told her she made me think of my mother-and spontaneously I choked up and had a few tears. I was a bit embarrassed, and told Chi I was sorry, and she replied to me, a stranger, “I love you, be safe’. The love she was expressing was a love for our collective humanity.

March 31, 2020. © Peter Turnley.

ID# 09-014

Self Portrait.

March 26, 2020. © Peter Turnley

ID# 25-014

Taji, 6, shoots hoops at the Happy Warrior Playground in the 90ties on the Upper Westside. His mother Latoine, told me she has been at home for awhile because of a shoulder injury. She told me Taji misses school very much. Taji told me he wants to be Kobe Bryant when he grows up. He made a lot of baskests as I watched, and his mother kept telling him to be sure to click his wrist when he shoots. He seemed like a real champion to me already.

ID# 03-001

I walked through Central Park and saw many people walking, jogging, sitting in reflection, all at safe social distance. I encountered a couple, Bob, 97, and Karen, 83. Karen told me, “I am stressed-I find myself double-thinking everything.” They were sitting on a bench and a young child ran by with its’ parent, and Karen said to me “Seeing children go by is life enhancing.” Bob was born in 1923 and has lived through the Depression and fought in Germany in World War II:” He told me he misses seeing his grandchildren and when I asked him after all he has seen, what he could teach me about life, and he replied, “stay close to your kids and be a good citizen.”

ID# 09-008

Bruce who is 67 and homeless sits hoping to receive money for food near Columbia College on the Upper Westside. I ask him how things were going. “it’s kind of rough”. I asked him if he was scared, and he replied, “no, I was scared when I went to Nam.”

ID# 06-017

Lesley, 46, works for the MTA. I asked her what her work was today, and she told me that her job is to disinfect the subway stations and she had just come disinfecting the 23rd Street stop.

ID# 04-015

Dayneanda sat with her dogs, Asher and Archie, enjoying a moment of peace together. Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.

ID# 49-011

Llewelyn, was washing the glass door of the apartment complex where he is the super. “my name has Welsh origin, but my origins are-Dominican. I’m the superb. Cool profession. I wipe down every day the door handles, elevator buttons, anything that has been touched. I’ve been ok so far. I’ve worked here for two years. I live here now with my daughter.

ID# 22-011

Charlie,81, “I’m trying time make the best out of a bad situation.”

ID# 07-007

A bit later, I met another train conductor, Jason, 38. He told me, “I haven’t had much experience in life-but there is nothing I can compare this with. My family is scared”. I told him he was a hero, and he shook his head, almost in disgust-I think both out of a sense of humility, and the realization that he was doing this work out of a sense of duty and obligation, and economic necessity. He is, though, very much a hero.

ID# 25-011

Demetrio, 82, moved from Puerto Rico to Spanish Harlem 64 years ago. Seni,54, is from Senegal . Demetrio has lived most of his life in “El Barrio”. He told me in Spanish, “it’s not El Barrio anymore”.

ID# 26-021

Yesterday afternoon, on the outskirts of a field hospital hospital, created to treat Covid-19 patients from the Mount Sinai hospital system, I met Meredith. 24. She is a Masters student at mount Sinai studying Bio medical science and has volunteered as part of a student work force She has been volunteering since the crisis started. She told me, “this feels surreal-like a bad movie. My family is upstate New York and they are definitely nervous. This scares a lot of people away-but it makes me want t to be a part of it. I feel like there is not enough I can do. It’s craziness. I’m doing the PPE. The first call I got as an assignment was for body bags. That was crazy. I work until 11pm every day. When I go home, I feel sad. It doesn’t feel real. I live alone. Most of my friends are in healthcare. The nightly applause is really moving-it makes it feel worth it. There are little girls across from my building where I live that bang on pots and pans. What frustrates me most are the people that aren’t wearing masks and staying home”.

ID# 22-014

Amsterdam Avenue, 7am, New York City.

ID# 31-001

Larry, 57, a customer service worker for Metro North, with 28 years on the job, stood alone in the main Hall. He travels each day 4 hours to and from Connecticut for his job. “It’s been a ghost town since the beginning if this. I ride like I always do. The cleaners are taking extra precautions to keep the trains safe. I do hear rumors some of the conductors have gotten sick.”

ID# 25-009

At the end of a long day, I boarded a Q train back to Manhattan. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, and a good friend picked up my camera and made a portrait of me. It was a long, beautiful day. I wish I knew why I am in tears as I finish this. Maybe it is like the cork coming off my bottle. This has been a long two months. We are still alive. We will continue to wear our masks and keep our social with each other. But-we have made it this far, and on a spring day, next to the ocean, there was no mask that could keep the light away from my heart.

ID# 49-021

When I arrived at the Times Square stop to change trains to head up town, a young couple, Stephon, 24, and Fidaus,21 and originally from Ghana, were sitting close together on a bench waiting or the train. I asked them if they were a couple and they said yes. I asked them how they were making it and they told me “it’s scary, and there is so much chaos-but we have kind of become closer together during this time”. As always, I was reminded that there is only one thing that gives us power and hope, and that is love.

ID# 07-019

Firemen from with FDNY 43 Truck “El Barrio’s Bravest” in Spanish Harlem.

ID# 26-010

Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City, 7PM.

ID# 27-002

A taxi driver stopped his taxi in front of Mount Sinai Hospital at 7pm and joined in with applause and cheering at 7pm to thank all of the hospital workers at Mount Sinai Hospital.

ID# 26-006

Last night, on the Mother’s Day of Covid-19, two nurses in particular, Erika and Simi, drew my attention. They were standing next to each other at 7pm, and suddenly a car pulled up, andfour young men jumped out, quickly took out an electric organ and placed it on the street-took out an amplifier, and put it on top of the car, and hooked up a microphone. One of the young men jumped up on top of the car, as another played the organ, and started to sing, “America the Beautiful”. Suddenly, the nurses, Erika, and Simi, and all of the other healthcare workers and local residents put their hands over their hearts. Behind the masked faces of Erika and Simi, as the music played, tears began to flow in their eyes. They put their arms around each other-and it was a moment of deep emotion.

ID# 42-002

Grand Cental Station, New York.

ID# 25-001

John, 58, a cook at The Bowery Mission, stands over a grill preparing food, with a sign above saying, “Serve Like You Are Serving a King”.

ID# 18-005

Joe who works at Barney Green Grass-The Sturgeon King, open for deliveries.

ID# 03-005

Ernest, 45, returns home from the grocery stores with food, on 125th Street in Harlem.

ID# 06-004

Frontline workers from Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, hold vigil to honor all victims of COVID-19.

ID# 51-011

Lee, 67, stands in the doorway of Harlem Hospital where he has had session of dialysis. He told me, “my kidneys are shot and I require 3 dialysis sessions a week. He lives in Spanish Harlem. During this time of coronavirus crisis, it is easy to forget all of the people that have other serious health issues that need on-going hospital treatment and have great difficulty at this time getting the care they need.

ID# 06-010

Inside The Bowery Mission, I met many of the people that work on staff and many who also volunteer. Wanda was cooking in the kitchen, and volunteers. I asked her why she does this and she told me, “I love serving humanity. I want to be a better servant today than I was yesterday. I believe this virus is a wake-up for mankind.”

ID# 18-011

Sandra, 30, from W. Africa, rides the #1 train south alone as the only passenger in this subway car.

ID# 04-005

A funeral ceremony for Anthony “Tony” Thomas-a legendary Paramedic in the New York City area, who died of Covid-19 related causes. Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York.

ID# 55-001

Carl, waits in line for food at a soup kitchen at The Bowery in New York City.

ID# 18-001

My eyes encountered a lone man, walking with a cane, across the main hall of Grand Central Station. Very often, when I photograph, I don’t simply make one photograph-particularly if it is of a person-I like to do what I call “stay with it-work a situation”. Life evolves every second with new gestures, body language, expression, and often gets more interesting. After making an initial photograph of this elder man named Richard-I introduced myself. Richard told me he lived on 23rd Street and was heading towards Larchmont, New York. I followed him as he walked to his train-literally the only passenger on this commuter train. He sat at the front of the train and told me he likes to sit there because it feels safer. Richard worked for 30 years in maintenance for the NY Board of Education. He told me, “I grew up during the depression and remember World War II. This moment we are living through is an enormous economic catastrophe. Poor people are in big trouble. I recall in my childhood getting ration tickets for food. What we are living through now will be worse. Society has grown larger and more complex.”

ID# 25-006

Martin, originally from Manchester, was playing the saxophone in the park. I asked him how he was handling this crisis and he told me, “music is a kind of defiance”. This spoke to me deeply, as I have always felt that way profoundly about photography, and with this diary-I am fighting back.

ID# 09-011

José, comes to fish at the pier in Coney Island almost every day. The pier has been closed several days during the lockdown. Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.

ID# 49-012

Bus stop at 149 and 3rd Ave, The South Bronx.

ID# 48-001

ID# 03-019

Pedro, 90, from Puerto Rico, has lived in 60 years in “El Barrio” in Spanish Harlem. He told me “No one knows how things will turn out after this crisis. In any case, everything has been going down these past three years.” He is not a stranger to the theme of death-he worked for more than 20 years in a cemetery on Long Island.

ID# 26-017

Earlier-an ambulance was pulling out of the tent hospital area and I met Karolyne, an EMT, originally from Brazil. She and her colleague had just delivered to the field hospital a Covid-19 patient from Queens. She told me most of the calls her ambulance was responding to were for Covid-19 patients. She looked out at this tent field hospital in the middle of an American city and said to me: “this looks like a war scenario”. I asked her if she was scared and she replied,“I just do my job”.

ID# 22-001

A local resident living near Mount Sinai Hospital joins in with applause and cheering at 7pm to thank all of the hospital workers at Mount Sinai Hospital.

ID# 26-004

Markus, 40, lives in a shelter. He told he me has woken up at 3:30 and had walked from all the way from the Bronx to go to 79th and Amsterdam to receive money for bottles he had collected to pay for food. He told me that he was born at the Harlem Hospital. He looked at my Leica M10 camera and said, “that’s an old camera-these days everyone takes pictures with their phones”.

ID# 06-008

Two nurses from Mount Sinai Hospital who are currently working with Covid-19 patients, stand in front of the hospital at 7pm with a sign saying, “Single, Great Catch, catch me before Rona does”, as firemen with FDNY 43 Truck “El Barrio’s Bravest” stood outside Mount Sinai Hospital and cheered and applauded the courageous work all hospital and essential workers are doing during the time of this coronavirus crisis.

ID# 26-007

Joe, a doorman originally from Hawaii waits for the bus to take him home to Queens. I worked the all night shift ,and couldn’t take the train at the 96th street stop because he told me a train had caught on fire the night before and the fire killed the train conductor and the subway stop was closed. I asked him where he lived in Queens and he told me it was just next door to Elmhurst Hospital which has become one of the primary centers of coronavirus care in the city. I mentioned that to him and he said, “yes, there are so many dead bodies they are putting them in a freezer truck.

ID# 06-002

Frontline workers from Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, hold vigil to honor all victims of COVID-19.

ID# 51-006

At the information both in the center of the main hall of the station, sat, “D”. She told me she is very scared of her commute to work-which is an hour and a half each way to and from New Jersey. She says she feels safe inside the bubble of her information booth.

ID# 25-008

Jacob, a nurse who works at Sloan Kettering, skips rope to get air and relaxation, safely away from others at the Happy Warrior Playground on Amsterdam Ave.

ID# 03-006

As I rode the last leg of the train uptown, my train passed a homeless man laying sleeping on the subway platform with a small sign with the word kindness. These are really hard days. For all of us. But as a professor once told me, along with love, there are only three things important, the fist is kindness, the second is kindness and the third is kindness.

ID# 07-020

ID# 40-001

Daniel, 20 and Melissa, 18, sat under a pier, looking at the ocean with their arms wrapped around each other in a long, soulful hug of togetherness. Their story reminded me of why it is so important to speak to people and let them tell you their story-because otherwise we would never know in the midst of daily life, the novel of life, so many lives quietly reflect. Daniel and Melissa met for the first time only shortly before the quarantine began. They have not seen each other in person since the beginning of the crisis. This was not only their first time to Coney Island together, but, “this is technically our first date! We haven’t been able to see each other. Melissa lives in Brooklyn and I live in the Bronx. Wow-finally!”. Both were born in the US from parents who have immigrated from Mexico. My heart sang to see them together, and I find myself now in tears as I write this-thinking of the beauty of their young, powerful and believing romance. Nothing-not even “Rona”, could stop this young love from blossoming. Coney Island, New York.

ID# 49-002

Healthcare workers from Mount Sinai Hospital working with coronavirus patients come outside at 7pm to hear the applause and expressions of gratitude, for their brave and courageous work, from the public of New York, at 7pm.

ID# 27-001

"It is not the wedding we wanted-but it is the one we needed". The wedding of Daniel and Emily. Near Central Park, New York.

ID# 30-006

At the end of this day, at 7pm, like every other day, on the street where I stay on the Upper Westside, people came to every window, and many came out on front door steps, to shout, and applause, sing, and thank, all of the people, like Meredith, Angela, Karolyne, Alex, Llewelyn, and millions of essential workers all over America and the world, for risking their lives each day, asking for nothing in return, just doing their jobs the best they can to help save ours. And unlike the man who presides over press conferences at the White House each afternoon, that spends a large part of his time congratulating himself and seeing praise, and expressing disdain for anyone that questions his leadership or authority-unlike this man that reminds so many of our human shortcomings-the millions of essential workers all over the United States and the world, give us reason to rejoice, applaud, and offer us something we can all be proud of-our common, beautiful, loving, hard working, and decent, humanity.

ID# 22-015

Today I went out to buy some groceries and as I turned a corner near where I stay-I saw out of the corner of my eye-a couple both wearing masks-touching each others faces as if they we're kissing. As I lifted my camera they pulled a bit apart, and I couldn't help myself to shout out-"wow-was that a kiss?". They both looked at me and laughed and leaned over and kissed again. After walking down the street a bit-I ran back and introduced myself and asked their names. Conall, from Ireland and now in the States for many years works as a building manager. Laura, 31, born in Colombia, and now in the States most of her life-is a ballet dancer and currently not working. I asked them how they were making it during this crisis and they replied "we cook a lot and we walk a lot. During normal times-our schedules don't allow to spend much time together. We are happy because now we are together all of the time." They have been together for the past 2 years.

ID# 29-001

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York.

ID# 32-025

On the train from Queens heading to Manhattan. Today was a grey, rainy, troubling day, as the coronavirus toll surged in New York and I witnessed so many ambulances arriving at the emergency room of Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, one of the most intense emergency rooms in the world at this time at the center of New York’s coronavirus crisis.

ID# 07-021

The Human Face of Covid-19 — New York City

Photographs by Peter Turnley