An-My Lê
(Vietnamese-American, b. 1960)
U.S.N.S. Comfort, Verrazano Bridge, Brooklyn, New York, 2020
Inkjet print
7 x 10 in.
An-My Lê took this photograph on March 30, 2020, as the U.S.N.S Comfort arrived in New York to aid city hospitals bombarded by the COVID-19 pandemic. This was not the first time Lê photographed the ship (or its sister ship, U.S.N.S. Mercy). Between 2004 and 2013, the artist traveled across the globe with the U.S. Navy to document military activities, and photographed the Comfort during its relief mission to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.
The 1,000-bed ship was commissioned to ease pressure on hospitals in New York, then the virus’ epicenter, only to be decommissioned in early June after having served just 182 patients. Stark white against the Manhattan shore, the Comfort ultimately served more as a symbol of relief and security where it was sorely needed. It also raises questions about ethics and government responsibility in times of crisis.
The artist sold editions of this photograph through Marian Goodman Gallery to raise funds for NYC Health + Hospitals.
Biography
An-My Lê is an internationally renowned photographer represented in numerous public collections across the United States. She received her BAS and MS from Stanford University (1981 & 1985) and her MFA from Yale University School of Art (1993). Her work has been featured in numerous international exhibitions, including recent solo shows at Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Baltimore Museum of Art; and San Francisco Museum of Art. Among Lê’s accolades are the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. Lê lives in Brooklyn and is a professor of photography at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.