Gallery

Portraits - The Guinea Pig Club

This work was published in the Sunday Times Magazine - with the article written by AA Gill.
It was also exhibited at the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, and also one of the images was included in the WOUNDED exhibition at the Wellcome Trust "War and Medicine".

The Guinea Pig Club
Surviving members of the famous ‘Guinea Pig Club’ – RAF airmen who received pioneering reconstructive surgery by Archibald McIndoe following appalling burns injuries during world war II. The self-styled ‘Guinea Pigs’, a name adopted as a badge of honour by the hundreds of young allied airmen treated for severe burns by the pioneer plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe during the Second World War. From their shared experience emerged a camaraderie that developed into one of the first patient ‘support groups’.
McIndoe was a pioneer in burns treatment and has paved the way for the plastic surgery techniques of today. Plastic surgeons and their burns teams can now help people with severe burns to survive and have fulfilling lives.
Simon Chaplin, Director of the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, said: "These portraits remind us of the profound effect surgery can have on peoples' lives. It is impossible not to be moved by the courage and determination shown by the 'Guinea Pigs', and their success will provide inspiration to future generations of patients.”