I was drawn to working at the Mansion several years ago for different reasons.

One was that the owners of the Mansion were open to the idea of giving voice and recognition to the residents. Assisted Care can be a godsend for older people, but one of the most challenging things about it is a feeling that people inside have been forgotten, left behind by the world.

Throughout eldercare Hippa privacy regulations, meant to protect privacy,  have been used as an effective method for keeping the outside world away, from refusing photographs or interviews, so the resident disappears from sight and voice, are voiceless citizens of our society.

Most people don’t want to bother with permissions. When I was in a different eldercare facility recently and said something critical of the activities there, notices were put up immediately warning the staff not to talk to me, citing Hippa privacy regulations, even though I never wrote a word about anyone’s medical care.

I told the management I had permission to talk with the residents, and they could not be silenced for no reason. I said their right to free speech was protected, just as ours was.

I refused to be shut down and nobody bothered me.

I wanted to change this and at the Mansion, found a rare ownership that agreed. Talking to visitors is the least of their privacy concerns.

I got permissions from the Mission, and every resident and their family (two or three said no I honor that).   I talk to the residents and write about them. It is very rare to see the elderly photographed; I find their faces beautiful and unique in our super-marketed and glossy world.

I am happy to give them a voice in this world and tried to capture their very human personas.

Being old should not be a license to disappear people.

We have all happily surrendered our privacy a hundred times over in the age of Google, Facebook Amazon, and the Cloud. Hippa laws are dinosaurs in a legal and cultural sense, an echo of a very distant time. They now mostly protect facility owners, not the residents. Why should the elderly be the only people in our world we never see or hear from?

Why can’t they speak out about the problems and complaints they have?

Most institutions are happy to hide behind Hippa. The Mansion got this idea right away; they have always supported me in this work. I sometimes make people uncomfortable with something I write. We always work it out, honestly and openly.

The Mansion Portrait Project is a big step towards acknowledging the lives and meaning of people on the edge of life. Everyone in the Mansion needs help of one kind or another, or they wouldn’t be there. I am happy to be able to show them as the beautiful and compelling people that they are.

Portraits are my photographic specialty, and especially I love taking pictures of the residents. Those faces speak volumes about life.

By now, I can get them to smile or laugh. I usually say, “look at my bald spot,” and they crack up. Or I just ask them if they want to smile. Sometimes they say no.

We are taking portraits of every person in the Mansion who gives permission. The portraits will be published in a Yearbook later in the year. Some of the residents can’t laugh, and I don’t push them. Ruth loves to ham for the camera, and I love this portrait of her.

Mary was not in a mood to smile for me, although there was a hint of a smile in her portrait. She is a warm and gentle soul, and I thought the picture captured her sweet and soft spirit. Everybody doesn’t need to smile. Every face tells us something about their lives.