April 2020. A few weeks into the COVID-19 lockdown and panic in the Philippines, the Philippine General Hospital shifted gears to prepare for the worst.
Doors were shut to most patients, while avenues were cleared for severe coronavirus cases.
The hospital became one of the few COVID-19 referral centers in the region.
These are images, through the perspective of healthcare workers, of the first weeks of a changed and changing world.
Other prizes Martin San Diego is an independent documentary photographer from the Philippines. He is a multiple grantee of the National Geographic Society, a Diversify Photo member, an alumnus of the Angkor Photo Festival Workshops, a Visual Journalism graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, and a fellow of the Konrad Adanauer Stiftung Media Programme Asia. His work gravitates towards questioning the histories written by colonizers and victors. This is most evident in his ongoing long-term project on Filipino-Muslim youth and their relationship with militancy in Mindanao, southern Philippines. Martin regularly contributes to The Washington Post and VICE News on notable Philippine issues – the Drug War, COVID-19 pandemic, and the environment. Nonprofits such as International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees regularly commission him for missions in Mindanao. Martin is a co-founder of Campus Journalism Lab. He graduated with a degree in Computer Science from De La Salle University in 2013.
