My project discusses the ageing process and how we perceive different ages as a bystander.
I began my project looking into the beauty industry and how it as affected our view on our elder generation. Slowly this turned into the difference different cultures views on our ageing population and with that, how we can push our vitality and longevity as a species. Eventually, I began looking into our unique and idiosyncratic experience of “growing old”. Through street photography and interviews with the wandering elderly, I am communicating their hidden lives, interests and opinions, which may go unnoticed by the general public. Too often we preoccupy ourselves with theories of how ‘best to age’ when instead we should be embracing the uniqueness of this individual, and extremely personal process.
For my final FMP outcome I have made a book, accompanied my fragmented lino prints. Inside the book features street photography of people aged 60-90 and their honest responses to a list of questions discussing their lives. My lino prints are acting as their disorganised memories, illustrating certain events or achievements in their lives.
The phrase ‘growing older’ implies that growth is possible, when the irony lies in the fact that we often physically shrink as we age. We may however, grow in our appreciation for life, understanding it’s inevitability and normality, only then allowing true vitality to take charge.