Beginning At The End: Portraits Of Dementia

Pao Arts Center • Boston, MA • November 2018

In 2018, 50 million people are living with dementia globally. In the United States, one in three seniors suffers with Alzheimer’s or dementia at the time of their death. And yet despite the millions of individuals and families affected, dementia is often a taboo subject with limited public awareness or discourse. A diagnosis can become a mechanism for segregating those affected from society, making it easy to see only the label instead of the individuals. 
 
Dementia however does not discriminate. These portraits reflect the cross-section of races and ethnicities affected. As a nation of immigrants, so many have struggled and suffered to leave behind one community and embrace a new one. This work honors their legacy and highlights a lifetime of experience.

Photography by Joe Wallace. Curated by J.Sybylla Smith

About the Artist: Joe Wallace is trained as a writer and spent ten years selling stories in adverting. For the last twelve years he has been telling stories through photographs. His approach to photography applies a fine arts sensibility to the journalist’s eye for storytelling.  Wallace loves crafting an arresting visual narrative and feeds off the spark of collaboration. Whether with his subject, client, or other artists – he finds projects are richer and more rewarding when each person can express their own unique viewpoint.

On view:

Thursday, October 18, 2018 6:00 PM 
Friday, December 21, 2018 5:00 PM