No Walk In The Park

Victims of Alzheimer’s disease have to live in a growing maze of confusion every single day of their lives.

Only the most recent memories are affected at the beginning, with the disease slowly working its way back to the older ones, until the victim finally loses her own identity and that of her surroundings…

One day you will go out of the house and get a sinking feeling when you find yourself looking for that ironing board at the local playground.

This shot was made as a tribute to my grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease during the last 15 years of her life, and had to go through all of these stages. It’s also an homage to my grandfather who took care of her lovingly and patiently for as long as he could, and finally decided to seek long term care for her when he turned 77 and it all became too much for him.

I wanted my mom to be my model in this shot but I couldn’t get hold of her on that day, so I decided to take my sister instead. She graciously accepted to model for me and we drove to the local playground. Once there, she put on a bathrobe with big fuzzy slippers, mussed her hair, grabbed the iron that I had brought as a prop, and tried her best to look lost and confused… I had to age her face and hair considerably in Photoshop because she’s only 43 and didn’t really look the part.

Read my short story on Alzheimer’s disease