Tony Luciani: A mother and son's photographic journey through dementia
Tony Luciani: Um percurso fotográfico de uma mãe e do seu filho, através da demência
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,
de 91 anos, veio viver comigo,
with memory loss and accepting her age.
problemas de perda de memória
as comfortable as possible,
em frente do meu cavalete,
and see her just ... there.
and I needed a break from my painting.
da minha pintura.
I had just bought.
que tinha comprado.
it had all sorts of dials,
— tinha imensos mostradores,
que eu queria aprender.
facing this large mirror,
em frente de um grande espelho,
to the only bathroom in the house.
casa de banho da casa.
"I need to use the washroom."
Preciso de fazer isto".
ouvi-a de novo:
we could do together.
que podíamos fazer em conjunto.
mountain village in central Italy,
no centro de Itália,
her father died of pneumonia,
morreu com pneumonia,
with all the heavy chores.
com todos os trabalhos pesados.
stranger twice her age.
com o dobro da idade dela.
and was pushed into adulthood.
para o estado adulto.
when she was only 16.
quando tinha apenas 16 anos.
para uma fábrica de roupas
of a very large sewing department.
de um grande departamento de costura.
of immigrant workers,
de trabalhadoras imigrantes,
from translation books.
palavras de livros de traduções.
Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish,
em francês, grego, espanhol,
polaco, russo, romeno,
all around the house.
and determination to succeed
e determinação em ter êxito
na casa de banho,
with Mom as portrait model.
novas habilidades fotográficas,
she talked, and I listened.
ela falava e eu ouvia.
and how she was feeling now.
e de como se sentia agora.
a memória de curto prazo,
her younger years.
os seus anos de juventude.
e ela contava-me histórias.
and I sketched them out.
by acting out the scenarios myself.
representando as situações eu mesmo.
more about photography.
sobre fotografia.
a representação.
she felt wanted and needed.
sentia-se desejada e necessária.
perante a câmara.
histericamente com esta.
came from an old German film I'd seen,
de um antigo filme alemão que eu vira
looked more like "E.T."
era mais parecido com o "E.T."
thinking it was a total failure,
pensando que era um fracasso total,
my particular vision.
à minha visão especial.
decided to post it online anyway.
decidi publicá-la "online".
of frustration and sadness
de frustração e tristeza
está tão cheia de coisas para dizer
I forget what they are?"
esqueço quais são?"
está tão cheia de coisas para dizer
I forget what they are?"
esqueço quais são?"
and full-time painter,
e pintor a tempo inteiro,
all the difficulties, we played.
nós brincávamos.
se sentia feliz.
por estar a envelhecer.
"How did I get so old, so fast?"
tão depressa?"
for my oil paintings.
para a minha pintura a óleo.
para toda a família
enorme e pesada
to the floor in the basement.
ao chão, na cave.
and bring my schoolwork with me.
e levava comigo os trabalhos da escola.
in this overstuffed chair.
numa cadeira estofada.
and the repetitive stitching sounds
e os sons repetitivos da costura
se mudou para a minha casa,
in my studio for safekeeping.
no meu estúdio por segurança.
back to my childhood.
à minha infância.
sitting behind me,
que se sentava atrás de mim,
machine she sewed at
em que ela cosia
a vê-la coser,
to keep her busy and thinking.
para a manter ocupada e a pensar.
10 pictures a day of anything she wanted.
10 fotografias por dia
da minha mãe.
in her life before this.
uma máquina fotográfica na vida.
and talk about our work.
e falávamos do nosso trabalho.
why they were relevant.
porque é que era relevante.
would just bluntly say,
dizia, simplesmente,
with words or without.
com palavras ou sem elas.
hasn't ended with Mom.
não acabou com a minha mãe.
living residence,
to be in my house.
estar em minha casa.
But you know what? That's OK.
Tudo bem.
when she sees me.
quando me vê.
or ethical on my part.
the reasons for doing them.
a razão para eu os tirar.
I appreciated and loved them.
e quanto os amava.
preciso de estar ao pé dela,
and really listening.
de estar presente e de escutar.
a part of something, anything.
uma parte de qualquer coisa,
exceptionally profound that's shared --
muito profunda que é partilhada,
como passear em conjunto.
from everyone, please?
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