Age is a privilege, unless you forget!, Debbie Castro

To select, edit and narrate my father’s photography, albeit with his permission, is an ethical responsibility. What started out as a cathartic journey of curiosity about and acceptance of who my father is has given me a better understanding of dementia and has offered me the time to feel my way through the many emotions that this disease elicits among those witnessing its toll on a loved one. I knew that this process would not be easy and there were many days when it was complete torture, but the conclusion of this therapeutic practice has been acceptance and a deeper relationship with my dad and my family. 

Age is a privilege, but what if we forget?

This is the central question I explore in my ongoing project Age is a Privilege, Unless You Forget!, which has developed out of a long practice of exploring mental and physical health, addressing a range of themes, such as vulnerability and control. In this project I take a close look at the wide-ranging effects of Alzheimer's, reflecting on my life and experiences as a starting point.

At the core of Age is a Privilege, Unless Your Forget!, I consider the life of my father Charles, and elements of it that I was previously unaware of before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's eleven years ago, such as his penchant for photography and documenting moments in his everyday life, from site visits for his role as agricultural trader to family holidays and birthday parties. We are united by our unique way of seeing and representing the world. Connecting our individual practices, we found a kind of common ground and I was inspired to not only scan and print my father’s images, but to manipulate and develop them further on the basis of recorded conversations with him in which I identified people, places and objects that he has completely forgotten; remembers vaguely but within different contexts; and can fully recall, including his wife Hazel, my mother.

Through processes of cutting, scraping and the use of stickers to intervene with my father’s photographs, I am seeking to depict both the decline of his cognitive health and the physical approach I have adopted to grieve my father while he is still alive. In this project, the recurring use of stickers is intended to represent the loss of my father's memory, while each sticker underscores the the extent to which he has forgotten a particular individual, setting or event. In this intimate examination, I manipulate these photographs based on conversations with him, where stickers are strategically placed over details he no longer remembers. The use of stickers is twofold: visually, they symbolize the erasure and fragmentation of memory, and metaphorically, they represent the 'stickiness' of dementia—how certain memories linger while others slip away, akin to the unpredictable adhesiveness of a sticker. The colours of the stickers indicate the extent of his forgetfulness, transforming these images into a tactile representation of memory loss and the physical manifestation of grief.

For those that are not familiar with the project, TLP Editions is an ongoing collection, produced and designed by PhotoIreland, that presents work by contemporary artists in the form of uncomplicated publications. These are available through The Library Project in-store and online. All and any funds generated by the project go to producing more copies of the publications, ensuring we can keep promoting the artists and practices represented. These editions are regularly showcased and donated to international events and festivals, such as the Icelandic Photography Festival recently. In addition, TLP Editions also grace some important shelves and collections, including that of the Hasselblad Foundation Library and the Martin Parr Foundation.

You can find a list of all the TLP Editions here.

PhotoIreland is kindly supported by the Arts Council of Ireland to develop support projects such as the TLP Editions.

Published by PhotoIreland
Edition of 200
Softcover
84 pages
148 × 210 mm