Dignified: INDIVIDUALS WITH ALZHEIMERS AND THEIR CAREGIVERS

Unlike other diseases, where individuals and family members actively engage the medical community and devote energy and attention to getting well, many assume a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s means the end of a meaningful life. 

These portraits contradict such perceptions. While the losses are real, people with Alzheimer’s are not empty shells. They live long and meaningful lives, experiencing joy as well as sorrow. 

For those with Alzheimer’s, choosing to be photographed is a rejection of the role of victim. Their direct gazes reveal their dignity. Each image, made in a studio setting, serves as a window into our common humanity. Collectively, they challenge the misconceptions of Alzheimer’s and related disorders. 

As each person’s story unfolds, it encourages dissolution of fear and bias, inviting the viewer into deeper understanding, support, and acceptance. Someday, there will be a cure for Alzheimer’s. Until then, may our humanity extend to all those whose lives have been touched by this disease.

Project Background

This project was started by a happenstance meeting with the director of the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Richmond (AAGR) at a fund raiser. It was a year and a half in the making. The portraits were made in my studio. We sourced the subjects by a grass roots campaign attending support groups and assisted living facilities. Slow going at first because of the stigma associated with ALZ; however, the sessions were joyous occasions. They proved to be very meaningful and therapeutic for the individuals and caregivers. In the end we had more subjects desiring portraits than we could accommodate.

I knew very little about ALZ when I began. In many ways the process has been a love story for me. An opportunity to be touched by the humanity and dignity of individuals and families caught in this journey. AAGR has been very supportive throughout the project.