"Ellen Jantzen : Patricia - Vanishing Mother Photo Essay Published"
2009-12-10 until 2010-01-31
Hektoen International Journal of Medical Humanities
Chicago, IL, USA United States of America

absolutearts.com member, Ellen Jantzen had her photo essay, "Patricia - Vanishing Mother" chronicling her mother-in-law's decline into Alzheimer's published in the latest issue of The Hektoen International Journal of Medical Humanities. Jantzen comments, "I normally deal with issues of reality in my artwork. I am intrigued with what is real, what is imagined. Are dreams real? Is what one sees, hears, and feels real? Aren’t elements of the world flavored and altered by one's own emotional makeup and history? With all of this in mind, I was drawn to the reality of my mother-in-law’s mental state as she slips into dementia. I created a series of images depicting my mother-in-law, Patricia Jantzen, as she goes about her daily business while suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.”

View more of Ellen Jantzen's work in her Portfolio at absolutearts.com www.absolutearts.com/ellenjantzen

Jantzen continues, "Patricia’s dementia follows the gradual (and sometimes not so gradual) disappearing of her 'person' as her world grows smaller and smaller and she retreats more and more from the larger world. Her confusion and difficulty speaking are especially striking. Words continually fail her.

"I have tried to capture her frustration and confusion along with her real humanity and sense of humor. By using computer software to alter the initial photos I took of her, I have been able to adjust the transparency giving Patricia the appearance of disappearing into her background. I did this by photographing her in a given scene, then repeating the shoot with her removed. By combining two or more photos I was also able to show her altering states of reality.

"Through this decline, Patricia does keep her sense of humor and her good nature. I have attempted to capture some of this aspect of her in the photos.

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