The Act of Care

A long-form photography project documenting the photographer's family during the final years of her grandmother's life with Alzheimer's, exploring the acts of love and care from the family.

In July 2021, my grandmother Sally had a stroke. I was one of her full time caregivers already at this point, as her vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s were seriously deteriorating her ability to manage with just my grandfather. In an incredibly short period of time, we went from just simply helping her shower and get up the stairs to her being bedridden and unable to even feed herself. 

Although myself, my aunt and my grandfather remained her primary carers, this project takes a look at the wider effect of caregiving on our whole family, and how we had to adapt our lives around her medical needs. Everything as we knew it changed.

This long form documentary was made from July 2021 until July 2024, and is a brief selection of thousands of photographs taken of my family in that time. 

I want to use this project to show all sides of family caregiving, because despite being physically exhausting and mentally draining, it still had many moments of joy. It still bonded us together as a family, even as it caused strains in our relationships. 

I think it is also important to highlight the gender disparity in caregiving between the men and women that was apparent even in our own fairly moderate family. The heavy portion of the physical act of care but also the emotional labour often fell upon myself, my aunts and my sister. 

As a student at UAL, I hope that this can also start a conversation around students and caregiving. When I started my MA, I was cut off from Carer’s Allowance by the Government, despite still caring well over the minimum hours required to recieve because I was in full time study.

The final thread of this story is the saddest for me - the slow loss of my grandfather's love of his life. Watching him sink into more and more heartbreak every time more of pieces of who she was disappeared to the Alzheimer's was one of the hardest things I've ever had to witness in my life.

Dementia is a very cruel disease. Our grief started over a decade before my grandmother passed away.