People across New Jersey are finding ways to honor first responders, health care workers and other essential workers who are out there serving the public during the coronavirus pandemic.

One of those people is a retired police officer who became a professional photographer. News 12 New Jersey caught up with Manny Carabel while he was taking photographs of nurse Lynn Devlin and her family.

Devlin spends two days a week on the coronavirus front line, swabbing patients’ noses at the drive-thru testing site at the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel.

“It’s difficult seeing everybody scared and sick. It feels good to be back doing something, not just sitting at home,” she says.

Devlin had left nursing five years ago and was working in the pharmaceutical industry. She was out of work and wanted to get back into nursing. The pandemic allowed her to use her skills to help others.

Devlin and her family got their pictures taken, but from a safe distance.

“I thought, ‘What can I do for these folks that are on the front line?’” Carabel says.

 

Carabel used to be a police officer in Aberdeen. He then became a photographer for Getty Images. Since last week, he has traveled to the homes of these workers, taking portraits of them with a long lens that allows him to adhere to social distancing rules.

“Some of the stories are pretty profound, what we’re going through. They’re seeing a lot more than we’re hearing about,” Carabel says.

Carabel calls the effort “Project Frontline Faces and Families." His photos can be viewed on his professional Facebook and Instagram pages.