Making Waves at NHLI – ten new portraits of our community

The National Heart and Lung Institute held an event to announce ten new portraits of staff and students to update the imagery across their buildings.

“Sometimes our stories make us stronger”

This is what one of our contributors said to me during her interview, and I could not have summed up Making Waves any better. This project set out to showcase the people behind the great science and teaching that the National Heart and Lung Institute is known for. Today our Department is made up of a vibrant mix of cultures, religions, nationalities and - of course – stories. We want this reflected in our artwork.

The founding premise of this project was that anyone should be able to look at these portraits and see themselves. So that everyone can know they are welcome, and they belong in science and at NHLI. It was initiated by our Head of Institute, Professor Edwin Chilvers, and carried forward by a creative team led by Helen Johnson (Communications and Marketing Manager, NHLI). 

With this in mind the NHLI community was asked to nominate staff and students across the Department who they found inspiring. The portraits showcase the ten final chosen nominees, each contributor was asked to choose three objects to represent who they are, or what they believe is important, to feature in the portrait with them. This was a nod to more classic portraiture where there can be symbolic items within the paintings, and was also reflected in the lighting set up for the photographs.

“Making waves is a delightful and beautifully executed project to showcase the diverse brilliance of the people who work at the NHLI. The photography is superb and it was a lovely touch to ask each person to talk about three items that meant a lot to them” Professor Stephen Curry

Last week our contributors were joined by members of NHLI, Faculty of Medicine and our President Professor Hugh Brady to showcase the final ten portraits. Most of these have now been hung in the Guy Scadding Building on the Brompton Campus, with the rest set to be hung in ICTEM on the Hammersmith Campus. Each portrait features a QR code that allows the viewer to see a full interview piece online. These are being released online in a staggered fashion with two interviews available at present.

Thanks to all the contributors who kindly shared their thoughts and stories with us.

Photography for the project by Dave Guttridge and design from Hudson Fuggle.