Design&All Rights - Michal Honkys©2007
Environmental * Social * Natural *
* Cultural * Positive * Inspiring
Just a few words...
Life after all is, in a way, a tribute. It is a tribute to all these, who reached the advanced age from all the directions of experience that life brings and met the time of being old and more or less excluded by the rest of society, sometimes even own families.
For a period of four months I was visiting two ladies, being in their nineties. Both had problems with memory, both were foreigners living most of their lives in Britain, both were Jews and reasonably wealthy. The parallel does not stop here. They both know their families are more or less waiting for their end; they also both occupy quite large houses and are surrounded by similar items and share similar stories.
Yet they never met each other and live in different places. I did not tell them at first about each other and my interest in the parallel of their lives I quietly observed. Our relation was warm and based on the energy feelings rather than pure friendships, since sometimes they did not remembered me preciously or were confusing me with somebody else. However we got on well and I learned over the time when it is a good time to visit and listen to their stories and photograph and when not the right time was. I felt a huge respect not only to their age and experience, realizing they are humans as we all are, still learning, having emotions, fun etc. Their spacious living places seemed like temples of life, full of symbols of different times and memories, yet somehow empty of current events.
Life after all is, in a way, a tribute. It is a tribute to all these, who reached the advanced age from all the directions of experience that life brings and met the time of being old and more or less excluded by the rest of society, sometimes even own families.
For a period of four months I was visiting two ladies, being in their nineties. Both had problems with memory, both were foreigners living most of their lives in Britain, both were Jews and reasonably wealthy. The parallel does not stop here. They both know their families are more or less waiting for their end; they also both occupy quite large houses and are surrounded by similar items and share similar stories.
Yet they never met each other and live in different places. I did not tell them at first about each other and my interest in the parallel of their lives I quietly observed. Our relation was warm and based on the energy feelings rather than pure friendships, since sometimes they did not remembered me preciously or were confusing me with somebody else. However we got on well and I learned over the time when it is a good time to visit and listen to their stories and photograph and when not the right time was. I felt a huge respect not only to their age and experience, realizing they are humans as we all are, still learning, having emotions, fun etc. Their spacious living places seemed like temples of life, full of symbols of different times and memories, yet somehow empty of current events.
Life After All (2008)
After all, we people do not die with high age. Life is a beautiful gift and it is our responsibility how much of this beauty we are able to see and create. Strangely the parallel of these two lives ends (or begins?) in both ladies wishing to die as soon as possible.
Note: I did not search for this project. It happened. The only thing I could do was to take my camera and quietly connect these two separate lives into one parallel story. How many of us live a real unique way of live we and our children will be not only proud of, but will be able to learn from and continue once we come to the end of our journey?
Mrs Fahima D. Is ninety six (2009) and lives in London.
Mrs. Ann K. used to live in Brighton and died last year (2008) few months after my last visit aged ninety three.
This work is dedicated to them and all of us, who care about each other.
Note: I did not search for this project. It happened. The only thing I could do was to take my camera and quietly connect these two separate lives into one parallel story. How many of us live a real unique way of live we and our children will be not only proud of, but will be able to learn from and continue once we come to the end of our journey?
Mrs Fahima D. Is ninety six (2009) and lives in London.
Mrs. Ann K. used to live in Brighton and died last year (2008) few months after my last visit aged ninety three.
This work is dedicated to them and all of us, who care about each other.