Tony Luciani: A mother and son's photographic journey through dementia
Tony Luciani: El viaje fotográfico de una madre y un hijo a través de la demencia
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
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moved in with me,
se mudó conmigo,
with memory loss and accepting her age.
tenía problemas para aceptar su edad.
as comfortable as possible,
lo más cómoda posible,
a mi caballete, pintando,
and see her just ... there.
y la veía justo... "allí".
las escaleras con lentitud,
and I needed a break from my painting.
necesitaba descansar de la pintura.
I had just bought.
que me había comprado.
it had all sorts of dials,
tenía todo tipo de modos,
que quería aprender,
facing this large mirror,
enfrente de un espejo de este tamaño,
to the only bathroom in the house.
del único baño de la casa.
"Necesito usar el lavabo".
"I need to use the washroom."
Necesito hacer esto".
we could do together.
que podíamos hacer juntos.
mountain village in central Italy,
en el centro de Italia,
her father died of pneumonia,
su padre murió de neumonía,
with all the heavy chores.
con todo el trabajo pesado.
no podían sobrellevarlo.
una decisión muy difícil.
stranger twice her age.
que tenía el doble de su edad.
and was pushed into adulthood.
para que se convierta en una adulta.
when she was only 16.
cuando tenía solo 16 años.
en una fábrica de ropa
of a very large sewing department.
de un gran departamento de costura.
of immigrant workers,
trabajadores inmigrantes,
from translation books.
de libros de traducción.
Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish,
alemán, español, portugués. danés,
all around the house.
por toda la casa.
and determination to succeed
su concentración y determinación
lo que amara hacer.
with Mom as portrait model.
fotográficas con mi madre como modelo.
she talked, and I listened.
y yo la escuchaba.
and how she was feeling now.
y cómo se sentía ahora.
su memoria a corto plazo,
her younger years.
sus años de juventud.
and I sketched them out.
by acting out the scenarios myself.
representando las situaciones yo mismo.
more about photography.
sobre fotografía.
she felt wanted and needed.
se sentía querida y necesaria.
came from an old German film I'd seen,
vieja película alemana que había visto
que se llamaba "Das Boot".
looked more like "E.T."
se parecía un poco más a E.T.
thinking it was a total failure,
pensando que era un desastre total,
my particular vision.
decided to post it online anyway.
publicarla en Internet de todos modos.
cantidad de atención.
el Alzheimer y la demencia,
of frustration and sadness
de frustración y tristeza,
está llena de cosas por decir,
I forget what they are?"
lleguen a mi boca, las olvido?".
está llena de cosas por decir,
I forget what they are?"
lleguen a mi boca, las olvido?".
and full-time painter,
y pintor de tiempo completo,
all the difficulties, we played.
las dificultades, jugábamos.
por el envejecimiento.
"How did I get so old, so fast?"
tan rápido?".
for my oil paintings.
para mis pinturas al óleo.
to the floor in the basement.
al suelo del sótano.
and bring my schoolwork with me.
y llevaba mi tarea.
in this overstuffed chair.
en una silla llena de cosas.
and the repetitive stitching sounds
los sonidos repetitivos de la costura
in my studio for safekeeping.
y la conservé en mi estudio.
back to my childhood.
de vuelta a mi infancia.
sitting behind me,
se sentaba detrás de mí,
machine she sewed at
con la que ella cosía
y la observaba mientras cosía,
to keep her busy and thinking.
para que estuviera ocupada, pensando.
10 pictures a day of anything she wanted.
10 fotos de cualquier cosa.
in her life before this.
en toda su vida hasta ese momento.
and talk about our work.
hablábamos sobre nuestro trabajo.
why they were relevant.
por qué eran importantes.
would just bluntly say,
with words or without.
a veces sin decir nada.
hasn't ended with Mom.
no terminó cuando mamá se fue.
living residence,
de vida asistida,
to be in my house.
estar en mi casa.
But you know what? That's OK.
¿Pero saben qué? Está bien.
when she sees me.
una gran sonrisa cuando me ve.
or ethical on my part.
the reasons for doing them.
I appreciated and loved them.
and really listening.
y escuchar de verdad.
a part of something, anything.
quieren sentirse parte de algo.
exceptionally profound that's shared --
especialmente profundo
una caminata juntos.
from everyone, please?
de todos, por favor?
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