Haunting photo-essay about photographer's relationship to his elderly father

Photographer Phillip Todelano has put up "Days With My Father," a haunting and beautiful photo-essay about his relationship with his elderly father, who has no short-term memory. Link (Thanks, Andrew!)

[#1 posted by Talia , July 23, 2008 10:33 PM]

*cries*

[#2 posted by isaac , July 23, 2008 10:36 PM]

that really is quite wonderful. so calm, collected.

thanks for posting.

[#3 posted by Clumpy , July 24, 2008 12:40 AM]

Very, very good. Reminds me of the gentler mental illness my grandfather went through before he died. I don't really cry, but I can get very solemn and this did that to me.

[#4 posted by Mold Prince , July 24, 2008 1:25 AM]

What a wonderful read too late at night after too many drinks.

May I also mention this song is a great soundtrack for this photoset...

[#5 posted by davechua , July 24, 2008 2:03 AM]

Gosh the interface is frustrating. Using Firefox 3 and sometimes there's blank gaps on the side where the photos are, and you're not sure if it's finished loading or not.

Should have kept it simpler. Otherwise it's quite a moving site.

[#6 posted by gzero , July 24, 2008 2:54 AM]

"Service Unavailable".. I guess the site was boingboing'ed?

[#7 posted by Anonymous , July 24, 2008 5:02 AM]

I'm at at my desk crying and smiling at the same time - I'm supposed to be working....it can wait.

M

[#8 posted by WoeToHice , July 24, 2008 5:55 AM]

How lovely. Simple photographs that reveal great depth. Isn't that always the way with art that makes one stop and think.

[#9 posted by FoetusNail , July 24, 2008 6:47 AM]

His writing is also wonderful.

Kate Bush "Moments of Pleasure"

Just being alive
It can really hurt
And these moments given
Are a gift from time
Just let us try
To give these moments back
To those we love
To those who will survive

[#10 posted by LindsayC , July 24, 2008 7:39 AM]

How lovely and bittersweet.

Just to be a stickler though: Most people (as in, probably 99.9% of people who have memory disorders) don't lose their short-term memory. Your short-term memory is what allows you to keep a phone number in your head while you walk from the phone book to the phone, or to remember who is speaking when you read dialogue. Most elderly folks with memory issues have lost the ability to create and retrieve long-term memories, regardless of the recency of those memories.

/cognitive psychology nerd-out

[#11 posted by Ellecee , July 24, 2008 11:20 AM]

What a wonderfully moving and well-done photo-essay. Thanks for sharing it with us :)

[#12 posted by Anonymous , July 24, 2008 1:22 PM]

Sitting at work crying (my dad's 95). What good work.

[#13 posted by buddy66 , July 24, 2008 1:53 PM]

TWIMC,

Stop already with the ''issues!''

All issues are problems. Not all problems are issues.

The flat tire this morning was a problem. I did not have a ''flat tire issue''. There was nothing to debate or discuss.

I had a goddamn flat tire. It was a PROBLEM!

[#14 posted by buddy66 , July 24, 2008 2:38 PM]

My Mom's 96. She remembers EVERYTHING.

Damnit.

[#15 posted by rainfrog , July 29, 2008 1:20 AM]

Weird. The composition and title of this work just reminded me another work from uk-based artist JAO Chia-en: http://chiaenjao.co.uk/02Works/2007Works/2007Html/DShow07/W07dshow03.html (tiled "Father's Tongue", two men facing oppositely with their left cheeks attached)

[#16 posted by Anonymous , August 4, 2008 7:54 AM]

Beautiful and incredibly moving in so subtle a fashion ..great way to remember the fragility of life even if we think we're king of the world at the moment.