There are 900,000 people living with dementia in the UK. By 2025 the condition will affect a million people – the majority will have Alzheimer’s.
These are more than just numbers for Bunshri Chandaria FRPS. The photographer and filmmaker witnessed the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s through the eyes of her mother-in-law – and decided to make that experience count.
The result is Silent Voice, a handmade artist book published by Chandaria to help raise money for research into Alzheimer’s, and a multimedia installation, showing as part of the exhibition Invisible Threads at the Keeper’s Galleries, St Albans Museum and Gallery.
The book is the latest step in a photographic journey punctuated with stories of healing. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2006, Chandaria found image-making helped with her recovery.
“My cancer diagnosis was a shock,” she says. “Life was a struggle. It was only through insistence of my doctor friend, Sarah, that I picked up my camera again. To my surprise I began to photograph semi-blurred movement shots of people in slow exposure. To me that signified life.
“Now, I wanted to shout to the world how my passion for photography had helped me heal. I began to live the ‘mantra’ that anything is possible.”
In partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support, Chandaria published her book Embracing Life After Cancer in 2010, with images and stories depicting lives of South Asian women who had experienced breast cancer. The book was designed to promote understanding of cancer and, as with Silent Voice, tackle the stigma surrounding a condition.
Here, Chandaria explains the inspiration behind Silent Voice – and how the project inspired her RPS Fellowship Distinction.
Your artist book Silent Voice was inspired by your late mother-in-law’s experience of living with Alzheimer’s. How did the project come about?
My late mother-in-law Ramaba’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s had alarmed and saddened me. She was still the epitome of beauty but a disconnect between her and the world had set in. She could not communicate in a manner people were accustomed to. They did not know how to react or interact with her. She went quiet. I felt a deep need to give her a voice.
My aim was to break down the barrier between her and how the world saw her. I wanted people to understand how she perceived her new world and for them to be at ease with that. So, I decided to do a photographic book. I wanted to make visible the invisibility of her condition.
How did your mother-in-law react to your photography as Silent Voice developed?
When she was diagnosed, close family and friends had sent Ramaba flowers. She believed [the flowers] had a life too. She wanted to preserve them for as long as possible. I dried some and froze others to photograph them. To me, their beauty mirrored my mother-in-law’s, while the slow-melting ice echoed her fading memory.
I showed her the image of the frozen flowers, hoping to bring her joy. To my utter surprise she started talking about the backdrop I had used – the table. It evoked sporadic memories about the past. It was a serendipitous moment. Might other personal objects also trigger her memories? This is what the photographs and conversations in Silent Voice reveal – how her treasured items and nature in her familiar surroundings triggered her memories.
Ramaba would only speak of her transient memories during our one-to-one time together. These were precious snatched moments. Her fractured memories would trigger some of mine. We both loved our conversations and interconnectedness – we giggled and laughed a lot.
The time constraint of her daily needs had prompted me to photograph spontaneously and intuitively, steering me in a new way: to slow down and breathe, to feel and press the shutter. I learned to be light and playful – to embrace her changing world.
You were awarded an RPS Fellowship for Silent Voice. What did achieving the Distinction mean to you?
The challenge of applying for a Fellowship for Silent Voice kept me motivated to finish the project by the required deadline. This project has been my solace. It enabled me to unleash the deep sadness and loss I felt within. Being awarded the Fellowship in 2021 has delighted and prompted me to make Silent Voice available to a wider audience.
All images by Bunshri Chandaria FRPS
The installation Silent Voice is part of the exhibition Invisible Threads at the Keeper’s Galleries, St Albans Museum and Gallery. You can order a copy of the artist book by contacting Bunshri Chandaria FRPS.
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