I traveled with a team from Ariadne Labs that included Madeline Pesec, a Brown University medical school student and Ariadne Labs primary care researcher who has spent considerable time in Costa Rica and Deborah O'Neil, Ariadne's director of communications. After the trip, Deborah shared this with me:
"Two years ago, we produced a comprehensive report about Costa Rica's impressive primary health care system and we realized we had no photos of what it looked like. I've been wanting to visually document what the delivery high-quality care looks like ever since so we can make it real for the rest of the world. I had never done such a project at Ariadne Labs, but I knew there would be a powerful visual story in such an effort. Finding the right photographer was essential.
From the start, Tim brought curiosity, openness and a collaborative spirit to the project. It was clear to me he was as interested in documenting and capturing Costa Rica's story as we were. On the ground, Tim was a joy to work with, flexible, easy going and endlessly creative about how to make better photos of the ideas we wanted to capture. His images are a testament to his considerable talent at putting people at ease and making beautiful pictures. One of the best representations of his talent to me is the photo he took of the EDUS mobile app that is used by patients and clinicians. This is not a photo of a smiling child or an emotional moment; it's a gadget. Yet Tim found a way to make even that photo spectacular.
All of Tim's photos are going to help us better communicate to the world that it is possible to improve health care for all at a national level. Costa Rica provides the world with a model and an inspiration. "