by LAUREN CODLING
A PHOTOGRAPHER featured in a community project aiming to create a “unique collective portrait of the UK during lockdown” has spoken of her desire to show “some light in the darkness of the coronavirus crisis”.
The Hold Still project, launched by the National Portrait Gallery, has received more than 31,000 applications from participants across the UK. The photographs, taken between May and June this year, focused on three themes – Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal and Acts of Kindness – and after being judged by a panel including the Duchess of Cambridge, 100 images were chosen for the final exhibition.
One of the winning portraits was haPPE, by Newcastle-based doctor Imogen Johnston, which shows an orthopaedic consultant and his surgical trainee wearing protective masks with smiley faces drawn on them.
Speaking to Eastern Eye on Tuesday (22), Johnston said she wanted to capture “some light in the darkness of the coronavirus crisis”.
“We were hearing such negative stories on the news and getting updates on how many patients had died,” the 23-year-old said. “I just thought it was important to show that although it was a very depressing time, there were always things that could make you smile and lift your spirits”.
The concept for the photograph, taken at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool, was a spontaneous one. Although Johnston wanted to participate in the Hold Still initiative, the haPPE image was not her original plan.
However, while working on the orthopaedic ward, she spoke with the consultant who said he wanted to cheer up older patients. Some of them were hard of hearing, which meant it was difficult to communicate with them while wearing face masks.
“He felt quite sad that the face masks meant it was harder to convey any emotion and it felt like we couldn’t communicate properly without them being able to see our face,” she said. “He said he wanted to draw a smiley face on his PPE and his junior trainee did the same.”
After their photograph was taken, the pair were excited by the thought of the photograph being accepted by the National Portrait Gallery.
“I told them not to get too excited as I was sure there would be lots of applicants and I wouldn’t get a look in,” Johnston, originally from Somerset, said. “So, it was really nice for us (when we heard it had been approved).”
The portrait’s name was Johnston’s idea, although she considered referring to the disproportionate impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on the BAME community.
“Obviously, the consultant and the trainee are both British Asian men, and we were talking about whether we could try and encompass the BAME group in the title, as they are at higher risk of the coronavirus,” Johnston, who contracted the Covid-19 virus a week after the photograph was taken, said. “But in the end my consultant preferred the haPPE title.”
Other photographs chosen for the final project include Eid-Ul-Fitr 2020 by Roshni Haque; Dadi’s Love by Simran Janjua and Your New Normal by Julie Aoulad-Ali and Kamal Riyani.
Haque said her photograph showed a socially distanced family during Eid celebrations in Stoke-on-Trent.
“We hope that this time next year, we will be able to embrace one another and make new memories, remaining humble from our experience in 2020,” she said.
Janjua explained her photograph was that of her sister-in-law meeting her grandmother after months of being apart. “In this moment I felt the depth of love they feel for each other, captured by both the joy and longing in their eyes,” she said. “Separated by a window but connected by love.”
Go to www.npg.org.uk/hold-still/hold-still-gallery/ to see the full gallery of photographs.
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Anurag Bajpayee's Gradiant: The water company tackling a global crisis
In a world increasingly defined by scarcity, one resource is emerging as the most quietly decisive factor in the future of industry, sustainability, and even geopolitics: water. Yet, while the headlines are dominated by energy transition and climate pledges, few companies working behind the scenes on water issues have attracted much public attention. One of them is Gradiant, a Boston-based firm that has, over the past decade, grown into a key player in the underappreciated but critical sector of industrial water treatment.
A Company Born from MIT, and from Urgency
Founded in 2013 by Anurag Bajpayee and Prakash Govindan, two researchers with strong ties to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Gradiant began as a scrappy start-up with a deceptively simple premise: make water work harder. At a time when discussions about climate change were centred almost exclusively on carbon emissions and renewable energy, the trio saw water scarcity looming in the background.
Their insight was that some of the world’s largest industries—semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food and beverage—were facing acute water-related challenges long before the general public grasped the issue. “Without water, these industries don’t just slow down; they stop,” Bajpayee has often remarked. What Gradiant offered was not just a way to save water, but a way to rethink how it is used, recycled, and valued.
The Engineers Behind the Mission
Anurag Bajpayee, the company’s CEO, whose academic path took him to MIT, where he completed a PhD in Mechanical Engineering focused on water treatment technologies. It was there that he met Govindan, a fellow engineer and now Gradiant's co-founder and COO, whose expertise complemented his in fluid mechanics and process engineering.
Unlike many founders who drift towards the language of venture capital and corporate strategy, Anurag Bajpayee and his team remained grounded in the technical problem: how to make industrial water treatment more efficient, more affordable, and more sustainable. The company still bears the imprint of its founders’ engineering roots. Gradiant is less Silicon Valley startup and more MIT lab, albeit one that has quietly expanded across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America.
What Gradiant Actually Does
The company specializes in designing and building bespoke water treatment and reuse systems for industrial clients. Its technologies are aimed at enabling factories and plants to reclaim water that would otherwise be discarded as waste, reducing both the amount of water withdrawn from natural sources and the volume of contaminated water discharged.
At the heart of Gradiant’s portfolio are proprietary technologies such as Counter Flow Reverse Osmosis (CFRO), Carrier Gas Extraction (CGE) and Selective Ion Recovery (SIR), developed from the Gradiant founders’ early research at MIT. Unlike traditional methods like reverse osmosis, these systems are designed to handle highly contaminated or complex wastewater streams, enabling clients to extract clean water even from previously unusable sources.
But Gradiant does not sell “one-size-fits-all” machines. Each project is tailored to the customer’s unique needs. For a semiconductor plant in Singapore, this might mean achieving ultrapure water reuse levels of 98%; for a food and beverage factory in Texas, it might be about safely treating wastewater for discharge while minimising energy consumption. The company's approach—sometimes called "solutioneering" internally—is both its competitive advantage and its raison d'être.
Expansion Without the Usual Hype
Gradiant’s growth has been quietly impressive. From its first commercial project in the oil and gas sector, it has gone on to complete over 500 installations worldwide. The company has raised more than $400 million in funding from a mix of institutional investors and private equity firms, achieving so-called “unicorn” status, with a valuation reportedly over $1 billion.
Unlike many green tech firms, Gradiant’s expansion has not been accompanied by flashy marketing campaigns or grandiose statements. Instead, the company has preferred to build credibility client by client, particularly in Asia, where water-intensive industries and growing environmental pressures make its services indispensable. Anurag Bajpayee, never one to speak in superlatives, frames the company’s expansion as a “response to urgent need” rather than a triumph of business.
Inside Gradiant’s Operations
At its core, Gradiant is still an engineering-first company. Anurag Bajpayee and Govindan, both technically trained and heavily involved in the company’s operations, have instilled a culture where R&D is not just a department but the lifeblood of the business. The firm currently holds more than 250 patents globally, a testament to its ongoing commitment to innovation.
But Gradiant’s success is not just about technology. The company has differentiated itself by offering not just equipment but full-service solutions, including project design, construction, operations, and maintenance. This full-stack approach has been particularly attractive to clients in highly regulated industries, who need water management solutions that work seamlessly and reliably without requiring deep in-house expertise.
Gradiant’s clients include some of the world’s largest manufacturers, including Fortune 500 companies in sectors like microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, and energy. Some, like semiconductor producers, rely on Gradiant to help them meet stringent water reuse targets while maintaining ultra-clean production environments.
Navigating a Changing World
Gradiant operates at the intersection of several converging trends: climate change, regulatory pressure, and industrial decarbonisation. In many regions, water scarcity has become the limiting factor for industrial growth, sometimes more than energy availability or supply chain constraints.
While public attention often focuses on domestic water use, it is industries that consume the lion’s share of freshwater. Gradiant's pitch is straightforward: industries will have to do more with less, and Gradiant offers the tools to make that possible.
Anurag Bajpayee is keenly aware of the paradox that water, despite being vital, is often underpriced and undervalued, especially when compared to energy. “We don’t pay what it’s worth, only what it costs,” he told an audience at a recent conference. Yet, the landscape is shifting. Regulators, investors, and companies themselves are increasingly acknowledging water as both a business risk and a social responsibility.
What's Next for Gradiant?
Looking ahead, Gradiant appears poised to play a central role as industries adapt to water scarcity. Yet, Anurag Bajpayee remains cautious about the hype cycle. "The problem we’re working on isn’t going anywhere," he says. "It’s not a question of innovation alone, but of execution—of making sure these solutions actually reach the places that need them most."
In an era where water risk is increasingly material to business, Gradiant’s quiet, technically grounded approach may prove to be exactly what is needed.
(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Eastern Eye. The publication does not endorse or take responsibility for the accuracy of any statements made by the author.)