Photography & Book & Exhibition

At the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic

During the Covid-19 pandemic, in May 2020 the artist Brynhild Bye-Tiller did a photographic series titled Frontline Cleaning Workers. She met female employees at different work places in her hometown Trondheim, who cleaned the common areas including men's and women's toilets, disinfecting gripping points, door handles and surfaces. Not once a week but many times a day. The coronavirus showed us which profession performs a socially critical task, and cleaning became one of them. Suddenly cleaning workers could raise their head and they became everyday heroes and received some well-deserved attention. Today we have forgotten them again. Now it’s the doctors and nurses who gets the most attention. Something they deserve off course, but for a while a typical woman-low-status profession was appreciated by the society. A profession with large physically burdens, requirements for accuracy and knowledge and with a high percentage of immigrants.

The series "Frontline Cleaning Workers" exhibited in the artist home during the Art Festival "Trondheim Open", October 2020. See full program Trondheim Open

The series "Frontline Cleaning Workers" is part of the book "Seven artists – Seven colours"