An intimate exploration of compassion and community in the face of death, inspired by Ubuntu. Photographer Andre Francois and his collaborator Paula Poleto were already many years into their largest project to date, capturing through the lens the different approaches to and experiences of death and dying in communities all over the world, when they established the connection between them.
Now, St Christopher’s is privileged to be exhibiting 40 of the more than 55,000 photographs Andre took, many of which appear in his book Ubuntu – I am because you are, taken from the African philosophy which focuses on humanity, belonging and community.
Paula says:
“We weren’t aware of Ubuntu initially. We did each trip intuitively, but as we progressed, I found out about Ubuntu and it fits perfectly and provided us with the concept that completely sums up what we wanted to do.”
After years spent living with and observing far-flung communities – in the Brazilian rainforest, in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, Japanese tsunami and in an acute hospital at the peak of the pandemic in their home city of Sao Paolo among many others, Andre and Paula, now had a framing for their work.
“It didn’t change how we see death; it just made it stronger,” says Andre.
“Death is a big learning process. Death is devasting but it is also a great master that teaches us a lot about what life is really all about – what matters in the here and now. The moments in life when I have felt most alive is when I was around death.”
Andre and Paula cite St Christopher’s founder Dame Cicely as a major influence on their thinking and the way they work. Andre uses a photograph of a man dying of Covid in a hospital bed with a doctor holding his hand to illustrate one of Dame Cicely’s best-known quotes: “The suffering is only intolerable when nobody cares.”
Another photograph of a Haitian girl whose leg has been amputated, being cradled in her mother’s arms, demonstrates the point similarly and Andre’s explanation of how he came to take this photo provides further insight.
“I don’t feel like I am the only one taking the photograph. It’s the other people in the room – or the tent in this case – taking it too, it’s a collaboration. When visiting a community you have to establish a connection and get to know the people. Once people realise the purpose of what we’re doing, even though they are facing death, they are willing to cooperate so we can tell this great story. That’s where we feel the Ubuntu philosophy is present.
“The moment you are dying is very personal but if we have developed that level of connection then we are working together and we just become a part of the scene – present.
“In this photograph, the caring happening in the image is its central point. The suffering is only unbearable when there is no caring. In order to care you need to look at the person you are caring for and when you do that you realise you are part of something much greater than yourself – that is Ubuntu”
Having spent 14 years travelling the world and documenting death and dying, does Andre feel optimistic and how would he like people viewing the photographs to feel?
“It’s hard to control what people will feel about the photographs and depends on where people are on their own journey when they see them. But we want to show the truth and to focus on the care people are receiving – not on the injuries of illness they have.
We wanted to show what these people have to show us about being humane and caring, often in the worst circumstances. We have a lot to learn from these people and how they cope with death and hardship.
“People tell us they feel emotional about the photographs but what stays with them is the connection, the care and community.”
It’s those three ‘Cs’ that make the exhibition a perfect fit for the hospice says Toby Kilby-Pollard, St Christopher’s Community Artist.
“This is a dream enrichment project. We are always looking for effective ways to tell stories that illustrate what palliative care is. It also aligns with our commitment to connect globally and locally and ties in with the 20th anniversary of Dame Cicely’s death.”
The photographs will be displayed at the Ubuntu exhibition at the What is to Become of Me? Total Pain Conference & Masterclass, marking that anniversary, on 9 and 10 July.
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