“Open Britain is a celebration of migration and the benefits it brings to our society”: Meet photographer JJ Keith
With ‘Open Britain: Portrait of a Diverse Nation’, photographer JJ Keith set out to use his camera to capture and celebrate the contributions migrants have made to life in the UK. Recently, he turned his lens on first-generation immigrants working at Imperial College Healthcare. JJ explains his inspiration for the project and why he was so determined to showcase the vital role immigrants play in the NHS.
How did your passion for photography begin?
I have always had a passion for the visual arts. I was an avid street photographer growing up and did a photography course in my teens and a master’s degree in the history of art at Edinburgh University. I went on to direct TV dramas and commercials after university and found that resulted in picking up my stills camera a lot less. However, over the last three years I have rediscovered photography and taken up street and portrait photography.
Tell us about Open Britain.
I have always been fascinated by the diversity of London. Visually London is so particularly British in terms of its architecture, commercial chains and famous landmarks. I have always been interested in the contrast of migrants in their national dress against this backdrop. For example, women in their hijabs working out in outdoor gyms in a park or people in colourful west African dress standing at a London Transport bus stop or sitting in the window of Costa Coffee.
One afternoon I took myself to the multicultural hub that is Shepherds Bush Market. I captured a portrait of Osman, an Egyptian juice seller with a popular stall. At home, I looked him up and discovered the inspiring story of how he came to the UK to pursue a British company that owed him money, rendering his large successful import-export business bankrupt. Instead, he found himself homeless and suicidal before finding his feet again and building a new successful business here in the UK. Although the portrait itself was great, this triumph against adversity gave his kind appearance in the portrait so much more meaning. So ‘Open Britain’ began.
JJ Keith"As the son of two migrants, I felt my backstory would lend the project more weight"
My father was a Jewish refugee in the Second World War and my mother is German. As the son of two migrants, I felt my backstory would lend the project more weight. However, in June 2023 when photographing my 53rd subject (I’m currently at around 150), a German psychoanalyst in Hastings, who like my mother was a child in Germany during the Second World War, I had a wonderful awakening. As I spoke to her, I was overcome with emotion and started to well up. She made me realise that far from a convenient backstory; it was in fact the motivation for why I had embraced this project so whole-heartedly.
Why did you choose to source staff from Imperial College Healthcare?
‘Open Britain: Portrait of a Diverse Nation’ is a celebration of migration and the benefits it brings to our society. Celebrating all the wonderful nationalities that make up the NHS and enable it to survive was always high on my list. I managed to find a couple of NHS workers, but they always insisted on not involving their employer. Fortunately, through a friend, I met Bob Klaber, consultant paediatrician and director of strategy, research and innovation at the Trust and he put me in touch with the right people.
What did the photography process look like?
What was important to me was to cover both a diverse range of nationalities and a diverse range of NHS roles. I was given one-day access to three of the Trust’s hospitals: St Mary’s, Hammersmith and Charing Cross. And with the help of one of the nursing staff with experience in that hospital and a representative from the equality, diversity and inclusion team we wandered around trying to find staff to take part.
The first question on approach was always, ‘Where were you born?’, followed by ‘Do you have time?’, and then ‘How do you feel about having your portrait taken and telling your story?’. The first question is one I always dread in ‘the outside world’ and I have become a master of deciphering accents. But in the Trust, where it is estimated that 30% to 40% of the workforce are migrants, this was incredibly easy to ask.
In terms of the second question, responses varied massively. Pinning down the constantly on-the-move porters was very tricky and after three days of pursuit it was the very last portrait we managed to capture!
Finally, in terms of willingness, we were met with a full range: from camera-shy straight ‘no’s’; to those that had to be lightly persuaded and those that embraced the project whole-heartedly.
JJ Keith"What was important to me was to cover both a diverse range of nationalities and a diverse range of NHS roles"
Which staff feature in the series?
A whole host of staff feature – from pharmacists to play specialists, nurses to administrators, surgeons to chaplains. It was so rewarding to meet such a varied and dedicated group of staff. And it was both encouraging and fascinating to hear how the hiring process for migrant workers has changed over the years. It’s clear the Trust has become more sensitive to what it’s like to climb the NHS ladder as a migrant and has adapted its processes accordingly to ensure more staff from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds can progress to more senior roles.
Three stories in particular touched me:
1. Jolly Chonedan, an intensive care nurse at Hammersmith Hospital, became very emotional as she recalled the challenges of leaving her children behind in India when they were very young and coming to the UK on her own to pursue a career. Thirty years on, the sacrifices she had to make still moved her to tears.
2. Hearing about the important work of Shirlei Da Costa, a play specialist originally from Brazil, and how she helps children with cancer and their families struck a massive note with me.
3. Rhona Eslabra, Fillipino matron and theatre manager at St Mary’s, believes she had to sometimes work doubly hard to get to her senior position. She is now training for a leadership role as part of a Trust initiative to have more managers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. She also left her young children to come to the UK, and one of these children has recently joined the Trust as a newly qualified doctor!
JJ Keith"Without a migrant workforce one could argue that the NHS could cease to exist"
What do you want people to think about and feel when looking at the Open Britain photos and reading the stories behind the portraits?
The NHS is a wonderful and unique institution that as we know is facing many challenges, with pressured staff and long waiting lists. However, the NHS steps up and provides an incredible service to those in need. Without a migrant workforce these problems would be far worse, and one could argue that the NHS could cease to exist. I want people to be reminded of just how diverse the NHS workforce is, how important those people are, and how they fill every role from top to bottom. The feelings and thoughts I want to inspire are as diverse as the people and stories themselves but if I had to pick just one it would be gratitude.
See the ‘Open Britain X Imperial College Healthcare’ series.
