Our summer project's theme was political awareness. We had to develop and research a concept for 3 to 6 related digital images.
In looking for inspiration I began searching for ideas that could help influence my piece and perhaps inspire me to create. I visited a site called 'short films of the week' which is one of my favourite places on the web to go, in order to find some of the most entertaining and informative films done by fellow film makers from around the world. Upon searching I came across this short called 'Alzheimer's: A love story.'
Alzheimer's: A love story,' is a short film that tells the story of the challenging struggle a couple, 40 years together, faced in their lives as elderly people with Alzheimer's. The test of endurance in a relationship is perhaps not at the beginning or middle of a couple's companionship but at the end. In this 17-minute documentary film, you really begin to understand the gravity of the seriousness of such an illness and the damage it can inflict on loved ones and family members.
What I find most moving of all about this story, in particular, is that unbeknownst to me until half way through watching this documentary, is that the couple are same sex partners. This invoked a sense of hardship on me because as we all know same sex rights and marriage have only become accepted and legalised in the last 20 years and that is only speaking about a handful of countries who have welcomed this way of life. This has all developed within my lifetime! When the fight for rights has existed since the early 1900's. So considering the difficulties they likely faced as a young couple simply because of their nature around a time of hateful prejudice, to endure a fight such as theirs. They must now fight Alzheimer's to keep those memories and battles fought. from being forgotten. As one of the partners 'Greg.' had put it:
Alzheimer's: A love story,' is a short film that tells the story of the challenging struggle a couple, 40 years together, faced in their lives as elderly people with Alzheimer's. The test of endurance in a relationship is perhaps not at the beginning or middle of a couple's companionship but at the end. In this 17-minute documentary film, you really begin to understand the gravity of the seriousness of such an illness and the damage it can inflict on loved ones and family members.
What I find most moving of all about this story, in particular, is that unbeknownst to me until half way through watching this documentary, is that the couple are same sex partners. This invoked a sense of hardship on me because as we all know same sex rights and marriage have only become accepted and legalised in the last 20 years and that is only speaking about a handful of countries who have welcomed this way of life. This has all developed within my lifetime! When the fight for rights has existed since the early 1900's. So considering the difficulties they likely faced as a young couple simply because of their nature around a time of hateful prejudice, to endure a fight such as theirs. They must now fight Alzheimer's to keep those memories and battles fought. from being forgotten. As one of the partners 'Greg.' had put it:
"Alzheimer's will accept anybody and everybody,
no matter what.
Male, female, young, old, gay, straight.
Alzheimer's doesn't discriminate."
This made the story all the more powerful but equal in cause and at times difficult to watch but it is a problem that now a vast majority of people face in their lives. To those who are unknown to the illness, Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia. Which often leads to memory loss and difficulties with thinking and problem solving, something I'd like to call 'death for the living.'
It is a disease that affects the brain and progressively deteriorates the brain tissue causing immobility in some primary functions and in the UK alone over half a million have been diagnosed annually. It is also said that on average the illness affects those of the ages 65 and upwards, but those under it are not exempt from such an illness. Those under are known as 'early- onset Alzheimer's disease.'
Now, if you've been wondering how this is relative to the theme for my summer project or perhaps you already know, here comes my little political rant.
The age range on average for world leaders and government officials, and those with political governmental power has been said to be 40 to 65 and as of last year that range has increased from 45 to 65 from past analysis. I highlight these statistics because I think it's worrying to know that those with the most power in the world are also susceptible to this crippling illness. Theresa May aged 60, Vladimir Putin aged 64, Angela Merkel aged 63, Xi Jinping aged 64 and Donald Trump aged 71, all Heads of State and have maximum authorisation to create and condone laws and repeal acts, exercising the full extent of their power.
Every country has their own laws and rules to filter the power but this is a worrying factor for those whose lives hang in the balance, the aspiring youth and other citizens of the world. It may not be our place to know their well-being but for argument's sake, let's say one of these leaders had Alzheimer's, how could we determine that the right course of action is being made or the decisions agreed in government are the matters most needed attending too and are being handled rationally. How could we know if the minorities are being taken into account in matters of state affairs?
As I said earlier Alzheimer's can cause dementia and create difficulties in problem-solving, so how would we know the choices these powerful people are making, are made in our best interest? Surely we couldn't know as it may well be a kept secret, but regardless of this, the choices made will reciprocate and we'd be liable no matter.
Every country has their own laws and rules to filter the power but this is a worrying factor for those whose lives hang in the balance, the aspiring youth and other citizens of the world. It may not be our place to know their well-being but for argument's sake, let's say one of these leaders had Alzheimer's, how could we determine that the right course of action is being made or the decisions agreed in government are the matters most needed attending too and are being handled rationally. How could we know if the minorities are being taken into account in matters of state affairs?
As I said earlier Alzheimer's can cause dementia and create difficulties in problem-solving, so how would we know the choices these powerful people are making, are made in our best interest? Surely we couldn't know as it may well be a kept secret, but regardless of this, the choices made will reciprocate and we'd be liable no matter.
From this, I'm inspired to create a concept from the documentary. Instead of taking memories I want to photograph politically relevant issues at this moment and using the smudge effect symbolically display six Polaroid image in an overall photograph of them and how the possibility of their importance fading away or becoming forgotten.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Short film of the week:
Gabe Schimmel website:
Alzheimer's: A love story documentary:
A really interesting idea... particularly as we are all living longer and being forced to work longer with the extension of the age before we can claim our pension. Whether it's politicians or leadership in other roles and industry, I wonder how this will play out in terms of 'capability'? And how do younger people get their voices heard to stand side by side with the grey haired? Sobering to think it will be you one day and what will this mean for your generation?
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