Description
“All that I know has been erased…” is a personal project, about the knowing and forgetting of my father.
My 80-year-old father died on the 1st of October 2006.
He suffered from Lewy Body Dementia in his last years: a form of dementia accompanied by delusions and a Parkinson’s syndrome.
His decline went horribly fast. My father became paranoid and relived wartime traumas.
He became less agile and stiffer by the day, making him anxious, angry and frail at times.
Knowledge was forgotten, memories faded and speech dissolved.
Our bond turned into a togetherness with no need for words: affectionate, vulnerable, comforting and loving.
With this book, I wish to depict the process my father went through, seen through my eyes.
I made use of photographs, letters and belongings he had kept, many to which I was unfamiliar.
I created new images with these, where memories have faded and faces become anonymous: exactly how I imagined his changed perception to be.
Recognizable to many, confronting perhaps, but hopefully comforting too.
I especially cherish the time that he was my father…
