Not Enough Time in the Day
The first day I met Ruth Gardiner, she said to me, “I’m only 98…and I’m part of the young club around here”. She asked me “Did you know there’s a lady who’s 104 years old on this floor?” Ruth wore a bright red cashmere sweater with pearls to accompany it and she had just visited the salon downstairs. Going to the salon, receiving manicures, and hand massages are regular activities at Tockwotton Home. The day I met Ruth was one of the first visits to Tockwotton and I was a little nervous. This is normal for me when I’m in a new place that I’ve never photographed before. However, meeting Ruth put me at ease. She told me she was happy to meet me and that she would look forward to the next time. She was comfortable with the camera and willing to let me in to her world. She had a youthful spirit and it was apparent that she was curious about the world and people around her. We talked about where we each grew up, our families, and her thoughts about the nursing wing she now calls home. For her, having a roommate was nice because without one, she would feel more isolated. Sometimes she felt badly about having to ask for things from the nurses. And then she described how there was never enough time in the day because she was always busy with activities and meals.
There were residents that didn’t share Ruth’s feelings about time. One resident said one afternoon, “There is just too much time in the day.” Where activities excited one resident, they seemed boring and mundane for another. What is it that makes one feel that there’s never enough time in the day, and that others feel like the days last forever?
Some residents were wary of me at first. My camera made some uneasy, or uncomfortable, so it was up to me to help them understand the project and why I was taking photographs in order to gain their trust. In a book titled Telling True Stories by Katherine Boo, the author writes “If you can help people understand that their stories actually mean something in the larger context of our society, it might inspire them to talk to you". Volunteering or doing activities along with the residents and putting down my camera also put residents at ease. And acting as a participant at times, rather than always just an observer, helped gain acceptance from the residents and allowed for more candid photographs. The outcomes of these exercises have yielded photographs that tell a more intimate story of the experience—as story that surveys and second person accounts cannot capture. The softer side of the effort also enables us to draw stakeholders into the conversation in a more meaningful and compelling way. The photos humanize the experience and open up a different channel of dialogue about how we might envision the Nursing Home of the Future.
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