For my last photography project at Aberystwyth University, I decided to choose a theme very close and personal to my life and to the lives of my family. The theme I chose was dementia, a disease which has affected my grandfather for over a year. I saw two paths I could take with this theme: portraits of my family, showing the effect dementia has on the people surrounding my grandfather, or portraits of grandfather himself, showing how he looks and behaves in this period of his life; I chose the latter. It has been a very difficult project to take on both mentally and physically, meaning not only was it hard to come to terms with what was happening to him but it was also difficult to actually take photographs of him as he cannot be told what to do or how to sit. It probably would've been easier to take portraits of my dog as he has more understanding of what I'm saying.
I was able to complete a few rolls of film on my 35mm camera inside my house, showing my grandfather in his favourite seat. I was advised to try out a medium format camera and have been using it since. I really enjoy the ease of using a medium format camera and I also prefer the square composition. However, using the 35mm camera is the cheaper and more efficient option so I have been using both cameras alongside each other. My grandfather recently moved into a home for people with dementia and he is very happy there.
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