Outside congregate living settings, I shadow seniors who live independently, as they navigate loneliness, social isolation and new ways of being intimate without physical proximity. Nursing homes are the forgotten institutions. In the face of the pandemic, certified nursing assistants and caregivers are overlooked as front-line workers.
One in four long-term care workers are immigrants.
Nursing homes are a nexus of senior rights, disability rights, women’s rights and immigrant labor rights. All 70 residents have COVID-19.Īfter a four-month process, I received state government approval and entered Canyon to document the relationships between COVID-positive residents and certified nursing assistants. The doors of all 44 rooms are shut tight. Yet, the hallways are devoid of residents. With its beige walls and fluorescent lighting, the Canyon Transitional Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque has all the hallmarks of a nursing home. Yet, how do we tell the story of a war without showing where the bombs have been dropped? We are present at the frontlines of conflict yet, by August, I still had not seen intimate documentation of long-term care residents with COVID-19. State governments have restricted access inside these facilities.
Isadora kosofsky how to#
Old does not equal disposable.Īs I was documenting the lives of senior citizens living at home, I was drawn to the nursing home space where I first received an education on how to be with people, the basis of documentary photography, over a decade ago. By mid-September, 75,000 people in long-term care facilities passed away from COVID-19. When the pandemic began, I felt devastated as thousands of elders and adults with disabilities lost their lives in long-term care facilities around the country. Since I was 13, I have photographed the nuanced experiences and relationships of senior citizens and adults with disabilities in independent living and institutional contexts. Senior citizens and adults with disabilities have traditionally been left out of mainstream social justice conversations in the United States.
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