Hannah Fishwick- The Golden Years

My project The Golden Years is a short series of images that represent the senior

community in Letchworth Garden City, exploring themes of memory, mortality and legacy. I

wanted to capture my subject’s lives in the most natural way as I felt this was important to

portray a true part of their identity. I visited whisk clubs, bowls clubs and homes to

complete my project.

The main reason I took on this project was from a fascination I developed with old age when

spending a lot of time caring for my elderly Grandparents. To see the transformation from

once active and healthy individuals descend into dependent, vulnerable and sometimes

helpless people was not only saddening but also eye opening and showed me how precious

and fleeting life is. This became even more apparent when my Grandpa was moved into a

nursing home, suffering from heart problems and ultimately dementia, leaving his wife and

home of 60 years. Through all of this it remained important to me to portray the positive

side of growing older and celebrating a life well lived. Above all, I chose this project to

reflect both sides of the ageing process and focus on a true depiction of senior life; both its

troubles and its rewards.

The subject matter of elderly people remains a current debate. The senior community is

living longer than ever before and while healthcare is constantly improving, it is always

apparent in the news that the elderly are suffering, unable to support themselves, lonely

and in need of help. While this is often the case, I wanted to focus my project ‘the Golden

years’ on just that; a golden and positive time of life that is remembered for good reasons.

The photographs I chose to capture are light hearted and natural, proving that reaching a

time in life can be rewarding, exciting and interesting. The controversial matters in the news

choose to emotively manipulate the viewers, depicting upsetting scenes rather than

celebrating their life. My grandparents were always at the forefront of my childhood as fun

and inspiring relatives having a strong influence on my upbringing. They have helped shape

me as a person and this is what I chose to remember when caring for them, traveling to and

from hospital with them and eventually selecting an appropriate care home for my

Grandpa. I choose to focus on all they have done and achieved rather than dwell on the last

few years of their life; that’s certainly what they do. I hope my photographs capture this

positive nature.

Instagram: @hfishwick

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