History of my Voice My Lens:
Leadership Development Through The Art of Self-Portrait Photography

Wave Financial, Toronto, Canada
2016-Present

As a photographer, I am fascinated by the ways images shape our thinking and life experiences. When my parents left war-torn Europe in 1950, they took with them very little...with the exception of a trunk full of photographs. These black & white pictures were visible, accessible links to lives splendidly lived, and they shaped my spirit. When my mother’s memory began to wane, we would bring out the pictures in an effort to help her remember. The images were indeed ‘sculpted in her heart’ and so would briefly restore her lost memories. With the encouragement of my family, I photographed my mother for 10 years. The camera held my hand throughout ‘Rosa: A Story Of Love And Memory’; it allowed me to stand back and to step in – the duality of detachment and intimacy. I never did stop to wonder if her humanity was intact; she was always her essential self in my eyes, and I knew she could see me with her heart. I have recently joined the team at Patient Commando Productions as a featured speaker, blogger, and photographer-in residence.

In one of my blog entries, The Portrait: Simple Yet Complex, Obvious Yet Profound Part 1:

The Eyes I write: ‘Of course, Rosa’s eyes also revealed her constant humanity despite Alzheimer’s; her joy, astonishment and curiosity. And then, as the illness progressed, her loneliness, frustration, anger, sorrow, fear of confinement and confusion. Naturally, all aspects of her face mirrored her eyes, and, as one, eloquently spoke the words she could no longer articulate. Indeed, “the face is a picture of the mind with the eyes as its interpreter”, as Cicero, an ancient Roman philosopher, so astutely observed.

Twenty-five years ago, Alzheimer’s patients were essentially voiceless. How I wish that my mother had possessed a camera that would have enabled her to articulate her private point of view and personal sense of ‘the moment’. How I wish that Rosa’s camera could have captured my own eyes and my unfolding story - within her own, so that we could have spoken to one another through portraiture.

As an Arts educator, I have learned that the experience of making art can profoundly imprint on the soul of a learner. I have witnessed how a story, dance, song, painting, or improvisation can assume a life of its own, leaving a deep mark on the mind and spirit of the artist and indeed on the minds and spirits all those who share it. I’ve watched reluctant artists discover their creative voices and observed their sprits grow and strengthen, and I’ve listened to former students’ stories about how works of art, created long ago, continue to sculpt a place in their memory. As a creator of integrative, arts-based education, I am committed to designing curricula that address the fundamental needs of all learners. Curriculum design and its designers must be, in my experience, creative, empathetic, flexible, and strategic.

I wish to bring all my experiences – as teacher, art educator and photographer – to my work with Alzheimer’s patients and their families, friends, and health care providers.