Sunday 22 July 2012

Sans artifice

Life is too fragile for artifice. Margaret spent her life as the wife of a farmer.

9 comments:

PerthDailyPhoto said...

A wonderful group of portraits JUlie, they reminded me so much of a time before my Mum passed away when I went to see her in hospital, Mum always had so many visitors so when she was 'busy' I would sit and talk to some of the ladies who didn't get any. One of the ladies in a more lucid moment, said to me 'no one would be interested in taking a photo of me' when I went in the next day with my camera she was so thrilled and smiled so beautifully for me, I took the pictures in for her the next day but she was gone, made me unbelievably sad. I can only imagine how it must be for your family and your brother, sometimes it's incredibly hard to understand the 'big' picture. When you see these wonderful faces, you can't help thinking about what kind of life they had up to this point.

Julie said...

thank you for these thoughts, Grace. They are very important to me. I find that each time I visit my brother, other residents are drawn to us like a moth to a flame. They like to touched. They like their hand stroked, an arm around their shoulder. To be included in a group.

The fascinating thing is that my brother used to volunteer at an aged-care facility in Port Macquarie. He would visit the residents who NEVER had other visitors. He had about 25 'cases' and would try to cover them all in 4 hours two days per week.

What goes around comes around ...

diane b said...

From what you have just said, your brother deserves the best. I love the smiley lines around her eyes and mouth. I think she would have been a happy person who brought cheer into your life. I hope she has someone to bring cheer into her life. A super set of portraits.

Stefan Jansson said...

Your brother did an important job there Julie. We have many lonely people in my area, both old and young. I like your recent series of portrait from the dementia unit.

brattcat said...

her face is like a road map of her life. how beautiful. do you know the work of Deidre Scherer? she does with cloth what you do with your camera. both of you are astounding artists.

Julie said...

Oh, wow! I do now. What an astounding artist she is. I just see it, she can take it further. Thank you so much for the introduction.

Serline said...

Great image! Have a great week!

Kate said...

Julie, I missed your two earlier posts, but I went back to view them. We truly are our brother's keeper, and you have done this beautifully by your frequent visits to the center to visit your own brother and while visiting with the other residents. Your portraits are quite beautiful of some extraordinary subjects. Bravo!

hamilton said...

Your portraits are stunning.