Seventy Years Ago Was Seven Minutes Ago

This is a series of photographs made over seven years of my stepfather's battle with dementia. It aims to visualise the complexities of dementia and give a sense that dementia is something that gives, rather than takes away the meaning of life.

This project is a series of photographs made over seven years of the quiet, tender, and contemplative man, whose life and perception of time is slowly, but steadily turning upside down.

Janez, my stepfather, is facing a terrible illness. Dementia is taking a toll on his memory and his daily routines are starting to look alike and repetitive. He is entrapped in our dark house, unable to reach the outside world on his own anymore. Being a physicist, his concept and understanding of logic are becoming illogical. Within Janez’s mind, history and the present collide.

I explore dementia through the collaborative means of therapeutic photography, exploration of his long-term memory and the documentation of the ephemerality of his presence and transience of time.

Using various non-linear and fragmented visual strategies, such as photography, his drawings, and his writings, I’m giving voice and visuals to Janez, a voice that would otherwise not be heard. The project aims to visualise the complexities of dementia, but also give a sense that dementia is something that gives, rather than takes away the meaning of life.