Alzheimer’s: My Mother
This small selection of images is from work that documented the effects of Alziemer's on my mother (June Edwards) as she gradually disappeared over twelve years, as the disease took hold.
It began as a personal attempt to understand what was happening to someone I loved. It also became a form of pain relief for me. Over time, it became a way to increase awareness, a record of erosion, confusion, fear, fleeting clarity, and the person that remained when so much else had gone.
Some of these images were used by Alzheimer’s Research UK and published nationally to help convey the human reality of the disease. Within eighteen months of their use, UK Government funding for Alzheimer’s research was increased fourfold.
This project was not about illness alone. It was about a fading of identity, the strain placed on memory, and the fragile moments when recognition briefly returns before slipping away again.
These photographs were made slowly, over many years, often in silence.
My mother died on 24 May 2018, after twelve years living with Alzheimer’s.
It’s me, Mum. It’s your birthday
