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Examination
THE LANCET
Examination I noticed that she moved slowly, Her fingers rhythmic like leaves In light rain. Yet a discipline survived in them Sequences too old for habit More like good words From an old fable Spoken often and from memory. Her touch was gentle with respect And played across my body As a blind person might, Intent to find the edges.
Glass 4
Malcolm Bowers New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Miranda Pennington
20th century British doctors on show With Head and Heart and Hand An exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Photographer Nick Sinclair. Commissioned by the BMJ. Showing now and throughout the summer of 1997.
ith Head and Heart and Hand: you are pretty old by the time you the motto of the British Medbecome a leader...and the 20th century ical Association (BMA) douis nearly over. bles as the title of the exhibition of phoSo who are the subjects? Of the tographs of 20th chosen thirty, four century British docare women; not a tors by Nick Sinclair bad representation, now showing at the given the parameNational Portrait ters of age and Gallery. They are century. Physicians not so much phocome closest to tographs as porforming a majority traits, and as such (and of these, most are not only about are professors). As the photographer a pleasant surprise, and his art but the general practitionsubjects of the porers are next in numtraits as well. In this ber. The others instance there are comprise a smatterthirty individuals ing from most medrepresenting British ical walks of life, doctors of the 20th the exception being century. Richard Dame Cecily Saunders paediatrics, which Smith, editor of the as a younger speBMJ, in his foreword to the exhibition cialty perhaps fell foul of the definitions catalogue, describes the choice of subfor inclusion. Some of the choices are jects as “rapid, subjective, impromptu obvious, such as Richard Doll, David and wholly idiosyncratic”. And well it Weatherall, Sheila Sherlock, and Cecily may have been—after all, it is their Saunders. Others have names that, for exhibition. Smith also explains the me, are more familiar than their faces. impetus behind the exhibition: the lack The photographs are black and white of portraits of British doctors in the and stark, allowing for no vanity. This National Portrait Gallery and the works well in contrast with the relaxed BMA’s wish to redress this. One guidand varied compositions, the only coning principle behind the choice, he cession to formality being that most of says, was age; that is, older. Well, I the men are wearing ties. Richard Doll suppose that in a field like medicine, looks like he was snapped on the steps Nick Sinclair
W
Vol 349 • April 5, 1997
on the way in to work (but what steps!); Roy Calne sports the only white coat and stethoscope and was probably in the middle of a ward round, the beds in the background looking ominously empty. There is even one of a surgeon and his dog. If the pictures tell one story, the accompanying legends, written by Stephen Lock and Christopher Booth, tell another, giving a hint of the real reason for inclusion. There is strong emphasis on the contribution made to social policy, ethics, and humanity: the relentless and successful early fight against TB, the aspiration to become a Communist MP (as opposed to GP), the mobilisation of resources and sensibility of attitude towards the AIDS epidemic, and imprisonment in the struggle against apartheid. All this on top of clinics, teaching, research, family life (and presumably a little fun too). Looks like those wrinkles were earned. A strong anti-smoking theme runs through the text, almost as a side show. David Weatherall is described as having pipe-smoking as his only “defect”. As a molecular geneticist, hopefully he has a sense of humour. Another stated aim of the exhibition is to make some of the leading British medics more visible to the general public. The photographs do this, by definition. Nick Sinclair’s style captures the sense of presence; the text, sometimes a little uneven, alludes to the personality. The accompanying book is sponsored; all proceeds go to Age Concern.
Gabrielle Murphy 85 Queen Alex andra Mansions Hastings Street London WC1H 9DP, UK
1035
Examination I noticed that she moved slowly, Her fingers rhythmic like leaves In light rain. Yet a discipline survived in them Sequences too old for habit More like good words From an old fable Spoken often and from memory. Her touch was gentle with respect And played across my body As a blind person might, Intent to find the edges.
Glass 4
Malcolm Bowers New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Miranda Pennington
20th century British doctors on show With Head and Heart and Hand An exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Photographer Nick Sinclair. Commissioned by the BMJ. Showing now and throughout the summer of 1997.
ith Head and Heart and Hand: you are pretty old by the time you the motto of the British Medbecome a leader...and the 20th century ical Association (BMA) douis nearly over. bles as the title of the exhibition of phoSo who are the subjects? Of the tographs of 20th chosen thirty, four century British docare women; not a tors by Nick Sinclair bad representation, now showing at the given the parameNational Portrait ters of age and Gallery. They are century. Physicians not so much phocome closest to tographs as porforming a majority traits, and as such (and of these, most are not only about are professors). As the photographer a pleasant surprise, and his art but the general practitionsubjects of the porers are next in numtraits as well. In this ber. The others instance there are comprise a smatterthirty individuals ing from most medrepresenting British ical walks of life, doctors of the 20th the exception being century. Richard Dame Cecily Saunders paediatrics, which Smith, editor of the as a younger speBMJ, in his foreword to the exhibition cialty perhaps fell foul of the definitions catalogue, describes the choice of subfor inclusion. Some of the choices are jects as “rapid, subjective, impromptu obvious, such as Richard Doll, David and wholly idiosyncratic”. And well it Weatherall, Sheila Sherlock, and Cecily may have been—after all, it is their Saunders. Others have names that, for exhibition. Smith also explains the me, are more familiar than their faces. impetus behind the exhibition: the lack The photographs are black and white of portraits of British doctors in the and stark, allowing for no vanity. This National Portrait Gallery and the works well in contrast with the relaxed BMA’s wish to redress this. One guidand varied compositions, the only coning principle behind the choice, he cession to formality being that most of says, was age; that is, older. Well, I the men are wearing ties. Richard Doll suppose that in a field like medicine, looks like he was snapped on the steps Nick Sinclair
W
Vol 349 • April 5, 1997
on the way in to work (but what steps!); Roy Calne sports the only white coat and stethoscope and was probably in the middle of a ward round, the beds in the background looking ominously empty. There is even one of a surgeon and his dog. If the pictures tell one story, the accompanying legends, written by Stephen Lock and Christopher Booth, tell another, giving a hint of the real reason for inclusion. There is strong emphasis on the contribution made to social policy, ethics, and humanity: the relentless and successful early fight against TB, the aspiration to become a Communist MP (as opposed to GP), the mobilisation of resources and sensibility of attitude towards the AIDS epidemic, and imprisonment in the struggle against apartheid. All this on top of clinics, teaching, research, family life (and presumably a little fun too). Looks like those wrinkles were earned. A strong anti-smoking theme runs through the text, almost as a side show. David Weatherall is described as having pipe-smoking as his only “defect”. As a molecular geneticist, hopefully he has a sense of humour. Another stated aim of the exhibition is to make some of the leading British medics more visible to the general public. The photographs do this, by definition. Nick Sinclair’s style captures the sense of presence; the text, sometimes a little uneven, alludes to the personality. The accompanying book is sponsored; all proceeds go to Age Concern.
Gabrielle Murphy 85 Queen Alex andra Mansions Hastings Street London WC1H 9DP, UK
1035