My Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I don't have to tell you how devastating it is and how a person mourns at each stage the patient reaches. For the first two years of his illness my parents still kept their home which was five minutes from me and continued to go to Florida for seven months out of the year. The decision was finally made to sell the house in NY and be in Florida full time. So now I was faced with traveling down there at least three times a year if not more around my full time job. I took my nikon D70 which was converted to infrared and took pictures every time I was in Florida. For some reason when I looked at the images I had a visceral reaction and wrote down words to the images. I connected on an emotional level and for me the pictures represented the turmoil I was going through and perhaps that of my Dad's now confused world. By themselves the images stand alone as mostly false colour images of Florida; however with the visual poetry they are powerful pieces which depicted my journey and maybe some of his.
Part of life is not having control and learning how to respond (not react) to the unpredictable and challenges we face. Certainly Alzheimer's was totally out of anyone's control. Our only control at the time was to prepare for what we thought was to come and to make arrangements for his care. I like to compare it to hearing that a hurricane is coming so you might stock up on food, evacuate or make sure everything is secure. That is all you can do. What you do if a tree crashes through the house or in the winter you loss all electricity is another story. I think of Alzheimer's as a train which you are trapped on. In the beginning it takes you to different places and stops once in awhile. Soon after, it becomes a runaway train there is no slowing it down or stopping it.
The idea came to me to self publish a book of the images and poetry. To exhibit the images and sell the book with the sole purpose of raising money and awareness. To date I have had two solo exhibits in NY and have one scheduled for PA next year. I haven't raised the money I had hoped to but the project helped me and gave me something I could do in a positive way. It also raised some money which is better than none. As the saying goes one cent at a time or is it one step at a time? You can preview the book at:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/793781
There are many sites online for self publishing a book. In addition to Blurb.com there is also Lulu.com
If you are on a Mac iphoto will also print a book.
Whether you are challenged with an illness, transition in your life such as Divorce, Empty Nest, being a caretaker for someone who is ill or grieving the loss of a loved one; finding a medium to express your feelings and thoughts can help you go through the process. Images can stand on their own or you can write something to go with them or on them. In todays' technology you don't need a special camera. A smart phone with the ability to take pictures can suffice and there are apps you can get for free which will automatically send your image to the book publisher you go with. You don't have to have a "challenge" in life to do this, rather you can use photography (or any medium) to connect to life.
A popular exercise many people do is A Photo A Day or as is commonly known on the internet PAD.
A man who had a terminal illness took a Polaroid a day and wrote on them. They were then posted on the internet so people could follow it. So a published book doesn't have to be a goal. Images can be posted on a website. Whether you use your struggle to help others in theirs or just use it to help your own journey without sharing it, the process can be very powerful and transforming.
Feel free to share your comments and experiences in using photography as a therapeutic tool.
