Tony Luciani: A mother and son's photographic journey through dementia
Tony Luciani: Fotograficzna podróż matki i syna przez otępienie
Tony Luciani picked up a camera in 2014 to document his aging mom's struggle with dementia, beginning a four-year-long voyage of discovery. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
moved in with me,
wprowadziła się do mnie,
i akceptacją swojego wieku.
with memory loss and accepting her age.
as comfortable as possible,
and see her just ... there.
widziałem, że jedynie trwa.
wspina się po schodach.
wychudzoną, drobną staruszkę.
and I needed a break from my painting.
przerwy od malowania.
I had just bought.
różne pokrętła, przyciski i ustawienia,
it had all sorts of dials,
facing this large mirror,
to the only bathroom in the house.
do jedynej łazienki w domu.
"I need to use the washroom."
we could do together.
mountain village in central Italy,
wiosce w środkowych Włoszech.
her father died of pneumonia,
z gospodarstwem na głowie.
with all the heavy chores.
mężczyznę, którego w ogóle nie znała.
stranger twice her age.
and was pushed into adulthood.
i wrzucono w dorosłość.
when she was only 16.
bardzo dużej szwalni.
of a very large sewing department.
of immigrant workers,
z książek do tłumaczeń.
from translation books.
Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish,
hiszpańsku, portugalsku, duńsku, polsku,
all around the house.
w każdym zakątku domu.
and determination to succeed
with Mom as portrait model.
próbach fotograficznych jako modelka.
she talked, and I listened.
a ja słuchałem.
and how she was feeling now.
i o tym, jak się czuje teraz.
her younger years.
a ona opowiadała mi historie.
and I sketched them out.
by acting out the scenarios myself.
odgrywając przed nią scenki.
more about photography.
czegoś nowego o fotografii.
she felt wanted and needed.
kiedy pokazałem jej to zdjęcie.
came from an old German film I'd seen,
ze starego niemieckiego filmu
looked more like "E.T."
thinking it was a total failure,
bo myślałem, że się nie udało,
my particular vision.
postanowiłem opublikować je w sieci.
decided to post it online anyway.
of frustration and sadness
o których chciałabym powiedzieć,
I forget what they are?"
zanim dotrą do mych ust?".
o których chciałabym powiedzieć,
I forget what they are?"
zanim dotrą do mych ust?"
and full-time painter,
all the difficulties, we played.
"How did I get so old, so fast?"
i tak bardzo się postarzałam?".
for my oil paintings.
ciężkiej maszynie do szycia
to the floor in the basement.
and bring my schoolwork with me.
i schodziłem na dół.
in this overstuffed chair.
and the repetitive stitching sounds
i monotonny odgłos szycia
i umieściłem w studiu.
in my studio for safekeeping.
back to my childhood.
wspomnienia z dzieciństwa.
sitting behind me,
pracy na tej samej maszynie,
machine she sewed at
kiedy ja siedziałem za nią,
to keep her busy and thinking.
do wykonania, żeby czymś ją zająć.
robiła co najmniej 10 dowolnych zdjęć.
10 pictures a day of anything she wanted.
in her life before this.
and talk about our work.
i rozmawialiśmy o naszej pracy.
why they were relevant.
dlaczego miały znaczenie.
would just bluntly say,
with words or without.
nawet jeśli było niewypowiedziane.
hasn't ended with Mom.
living residence,
to be in my house.
być bezpiecznym miejscem.
But you know what? That's OK.
Ale wiecie co? To nic.
when she sees me.
uśmiecha się szeroko.
or ethical on my part.
ani etyczne z mojej strony.
the reasons for doing them.
I appreciated and loved them.
dla mnie ważni i jak bardzo ich kocham.
and really listening.
a part of something, anything.
częścią czegoś, czegokolwiek.
czymś niezwykle głębokim.
exceptionally profound that's shared --
from everyone, please?
pomachać i uśmiechnąć się?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tony Luciani - ArtistTony Luciani picked up a camera in 2014 to document his aging mom's struggle with dementia, beginning a four-year-long voyage of discovery.
Why you should listen
Tony Luciani picked up a camera in 2014 to document his aging mom's struggle with dementia, and it was the imaginative expression of the collaboration that propelled his work internationally. After more than 40 years as a full-time painter, Luciani garnered worldwide attention with this four-year-long photography series. Their voyage of discovery, expressing the benefits of inclusion and participation within a creative medium, has gone beyond the boundaries of recognizing it as just a personal visual diary.
Luciani graduated from Toronto's Ontario College of Art in 1977 with prestigious honors. At age 21, he was encouraged to continue with his fifth-year post-graduate study in Florence, Italy. It was there that he found maturity while carefully observing the historical paintings of the Renaissance Masters. Upon returning, he was promptly accepted for representation by a well-respected and established Canadian art gallery.
In defining his work, Luciani prefers to be placed in a tradition of realism, which is both interpretive and characterized by focused observation. As a photographer, he likes defining his imagery as an "obvious extension" to what he already creates as an artist.
Luciani's art can be found in private, public and corporate collections globally. An unabridged edition of one-hundred photographs titled "MAMMA, In the Meantime" is in the collection of the local chapter of the Canadian Alzheimer Society. He is represented by Loch Gallery in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary.
Tony Luciani | Speaker | TED.com