Photographs of the Alzheimer’s Patient

  Photographs look past Alzheimer’s , an article by Henry Lehmann, in The Gazette at Canada.com, features interesting information about art Pascal Dufaux has done of his uncle who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. 

Alzheimer’s disease is both the subject and the title for Montreal artist Pascal Dufaux’s oddly penetrating photo-installation [of his uncle] now in one small room at Galerie Joyce Yahouda, according to the article.

“Taking photos of an Alzheimer’s patient!” you exclaim.  “I’d never do that.”

However, I find the photos we took of Mother, alone and with us, also remind us of happy times, as well as the bittersweet ones.  These are times when we could bring her enjoyment, times we learned to love her in a different way, times my grandchildren remember as part of their family heritage.

I’ve created a photo album with a progression of these photos of Mother and our family and call it A Legacy of Love.  I would like to write journal entries and include those, possibly publishing this for each family member who wants to remember her Alzheimer’s years with something other than sadness.

Do you have photos to remind you of the happier jAlzheimer’s times?  Perhaps these will help you accept Alzheimer’s as a part of life, as Dufaux said his uncle did in this quote from the article. 

Strangely, according to Dufaux, his uncle accepted this as part of life, and not just as a death sentence. Indeed, Dufaux goes on to assert that, “this was in a way a lovely moment for my uncle, who before his illness had hidden his natural humility.” Now, apparently, he can actually open up more.

(To learn more about Dufaux, his uncle, and the photo exhibit, check out the article at the link above.)