Peggie keeps color in her hair, she is preparing for another red dye. Her face, like the faces of so many people in the Mansion, is a study in character, each line and feature a statement of self. I am new to photographing the elderly, I am drawn to it. Every portrait is beautiful to me.

In America, the elderly are often forgotten, shunted aside, abandoned to their corners on the edge of life. Nobody in America seems to want to deal with aging or death. I am moved to give voices to the people at the Mansion, to tell their stories. Peggie loves jigsaw puzzles. You can write to her at the Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816,