Sorry to hear the bad news, Ken.
As for your question, the only guidance I can offer is from my own
experience when my parents passed away in 2001 and 2004, respectively. The
last picture I took of my mother was 3 days before she died. At the time,
I did not think she only had 3 days left. In the case of my father, the
last pictures I had of him are from about 3 weeks before he suffered a
stroke which killed him 3 days later. I was living in the Netherlands at
the time, so by the time the hospital in Copenhagen phoned me, my father
was unconscious and it did not seem appropriate to photograph him. I want
to remember him alive and happy, not at death's door.
But in the end my experience is irrelevant for you. It is YOUR family, and
YOUR feelings will dictate what is right for you.
Good luck and strength.
Nathan
Op Ma, 16 juli, 2012 17:59, schreef Ken Norton:
> EOL = End of Life
>
> Last week my father-in-law (the veggy cattle farmer) went to the
> hospital for congestive heart failure and a blood clot in the lung.
> Those two issues were fixable. The advanced prostate cancer that has
> spread throughout his body is not. He's 87 and has ignored this
> problem for a couple of years. (various reasons).
>
> So, in the next few days he is heading back home. The clock is ticking...
>
> Over the past couple of years, I've taken the time to photograph him.
> It's not that his mortality has been uncertain, but that it has always
> remained a nebulous concept. But, now, it is another story.
>
> I'm thinking about picking up a few rolls of Tri-X and spending the
> time to document his face and expressions before the sickness takes
> him too far down the road. I've thought about shooting color, but that
> just doesn't seem right.
>
> I know that I have the freedom to do this with him and the family. But
> one question that comes to my mind is "how far do I go?" At what point
> do I set the camera down and let what happens happen?
>
> I will photograph his expressions and I will photograph his
> interaction with each family member. But what else? In the past I've
> photographed a few passings in hospice, but always for somebody else.
> This is for family. Each family dynamic is unique.
>
> --
> Ken Norton
> ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.zone-10.com
> --
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>
>
--
Nathan Wajsman
photo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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