Tony Luciani: A mother and son's photographic journey through dementia
Tony Luciani: Demenz - Eine fotografische Reise von Mutter und Sohn
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,
bei mir einzog,
einen Dienst erweisen.
with memory loss and accepting her age.
ihr Alter zu akzeptieren.
as comfortable as possible,
so recht wie möglich machen,
and see her just ... there.
langsam die Treppe hochstieg
die Mama von früher.
and I needed a break from my painting.
und ich brauchte eine Pause vom Malen.
I had just bought.
it had all sorts of dials,
ich wollte alle ihre Einstellrädchen,
facing this large mirror,
vor diesem großen Spiegel auf
to the only bathroom in the house.
zum einzigen Badezimmer des Hauses.
"I need to use the washroom."
"Ich muss ins Bad."
Ich muss kurz was machen."
we could do together.
das wir zusammen tun konnten.
mountain village in central Italy,
in den Bergen Mittelitaliens geboren,
her father died of pneumonia,
an einer Lungenentzündung
with all the heavy chores.
und seinen zwei Töchtern die harte Arbeit.
einen schweren Entschluss.
stranger twice her age.
der doppelt so alt war wie sie.
and was pushed into adulthood.
und ins Erwachsenenleben gezwungen.
when she was only 16.
da war sie gerade mal 16.
of a very large sewing department.
einer sehr großen Nähabteilung.
of immigrant workers,
Migranten umgeben war,
from translation books.
mit Übersetzungsbüchern bei.
Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish,
Spanisch, Portugiesisch, Dänisch,
all around the house.
Ungarisch im ganzen Haus.
und ihre Entschlossenheit,
and determination to succeed
with Mom as portrait model.
mit Mama als Modell.
she talked, and I listened.
redete sie und ich hörte zu.
and how she was feeling now.
und wie sie sich jetzt fühlte.
her younger years.
an frühere Jahre.
and I sketched them out.
by acting out the scenarios myself.
indem ich die Szenarien durchspielte.
more about photography.
lernte mehr über Fotografie.
das Schauspielern.
she felt wanted and needed.
sie fühlte sich gewollt und gebraucht.
in hysterisches Gelächter aus.
came from an old German film I'd seen,
von einem alten deutschen Film
looked more like "E.T."
das mehr wie "E.T." aussah.
thinking it was a total failure,
weil ich es für einen Misserfolg hielt,
my particular vision.
meine besondere Vision.
decided to post it online anyway.
tatsächlich online stellte.
of frustration and sadness
die ich unbedingt sagen will,
I forget what they are?"
bevor sie meinen Mund erreichen?"
die ich unbedingt sagen will,
I forget what they are?"
bevor sie meinen Mund erreichen?"
and full-time painter,
und Vollzeitmaler
all the difficulties, we played.
auszugleichen, spielten wir.
mit dem Altern beschäftigt.
"How did I get so old, so fast?"
so schnell so alt geworden?"
for my oil paintings.
für meine Ölgemälde Modell zu stehen.
to the floor in the basement.
and bring my schoolwork with me.
und nahm meine Hausaufgaben mit.
in this overstuffed chair.
in diesem prallen Sessel.
and the repetitive stitching sounds
und die monotonen Stickgeräusche
in my studio for safekeeping.
und verwahrte sie im Studio.
back to my childhood.
zurück in meine Kindheit.
sitting behind me,
machine she sewed at
derselben Maschine nähte,
to keep her busy and thinking.
um sie zu beschäftigen, auch mental.
10 pictures a day of anything she wanted.
von was auch immer zu machen.
in her life before this.
eine Kamera in der Hand gehalten.
and talk about our work.
und redeten über unsere Arbeit.
why they were relevant.
warum es wichtig war.
would just bluntly say,
with words or without.
ob ausgesprochen oder nicht.
hasn't ended with Mom.
ist noch nicht vorbei.
living residence,
to be in my house.
But you know what? That's OK.
Wissen Sie was? Das ist OK.
when she sees me.
für mich übrig, wenn sie mich sieht.
or ethical on my part.
noch moralisch richtig von mir.
the reasons for doing them.
dahinter nicht verstehen.
ihnen zu sagen,
I appreciated and loved them.
and really listening.
da zu sein und wirklich zuzuhören.
a part of something, anything.
exceptionally profound that's shared --
das miteinander geteilt wird --
from everyone, please?
einmal winken und lächeln?
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