Old ages lightness and weight
Every person yearns to feel accepeted when looked upon. Even at an old age, a person can become empowered and enjoy being the object of an accepting gaze - the feeling of still being seen.
I have photographed six elderly people to my exhibition in their home and surrounding neigborhood. Their age varied between 85 to 98 years. Some of them, I have photographed for several years and others just once due to cancellations caused by corona.
The basis, or the idea behind me to photograph these elderly people was that each and everyone had the chance to define how they wanted to be photographed. More importantly, to define how they would want to be seen.
I noticed that the elderly really liked to be photographed. Mentally, the photographing moments were kept light. This reflected upon how they wanted to be portrayed in the photographs. Even though, I captured a lot melancholy and loneliness, I also captured gazes of joy and gentlessness.
These meeting brought joy to me too.
As the project progressed, I realised that the photoshoot was as important as to me as it was to the elderly being photographed.
With my photographs, I would like to parttake in the conversation of having a good elderly life and the multifaceted nature it contains.