A little over a month ago, I went back to Maryland to spend time with family. My father is a veterinarian, specifically, an orthopedic surgeon. He performs multiple surgeries per day, five days a week. While I was home I spent an afternoon with him, photographing what it is, exactly, that he spends his days doing. It was an eye opening experience.
Up until that moment, I never really grasped the intensity, nor the physical requirements that his career entails. When I was a kid, I did accompany my father to work on occasion, but I was not in the operating room, nor did I necessarily pay that much attention to what specifically was going on in the O.R.. This recent occasion was much different than my earlier experiences. That afternoon he performed two TPLO surgeries, while I photographed the entire process. The surgeries took about an hour each. They require precision, accuracy, and speed. Once that first cut has been made there is quiet intensity that alludes to, at the most extreme, that this is a life and death situation.
I learned a great deal about my father that afternoon and have a much greater understanding of who he is. Perhaps, it has helped me to be a more accepting person. I urged both of my younger sisters to accompany him into the operating room, just to get a little more insight about our father. For me, photography was what led me here.
Prepping for a TPLO
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