clipped from: lens.blogs.nytimes.com How do you photograph what’s inside someone’s head?
I considered this as I started photographing, reporting and shooting video of a night-care program for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia patients who live at home during the day. I started the project on my own, but the article and video were a result of collaborations with Cara Buckley and Shayla Harris.
The first night I spent at the ElderServe at Night program in the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, I knew there would be good photographs with nice moments between caretakers and the patients. But after a couple of visits, I wondered how could I get past those photos, past simple reportage of this program, and get closer to their experience. I realized I had to consider what — if anything — stands between the present and the past and also what stands between them and me. It made me think about the nature of consciousness and my own perceptions of reality.