“Hour by hour, and week by week, the thing upon the canvas was growing old. It might escape the hideousness of sin, but the hideousness of age was in store for it. The cheeks would become hollow or flaccid. Yellow crow’s-feet would creep round the fading eyes and make them horrible. The hair would lose its brightness, the mouth would gape or droop, would be foolish or gross, as the mouths of old men are. There would be the wrinkled throat, the cold, blue-veined hands, the twisted body, that he remembered in the grandfather who had been so stern to him in his boyhood. The picture had to be concealed. There was no help for it.”

(Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891)

Eddie McG

Background

Interpreting the word ‘invisible’, a word commonly used by older people about their place in society, is the basis of this body of work. In particular, I looked at the area of fashion and whether fashion abandons older people or older people simply abandon fashion. It has always been in the interest of the fashion industry to promote ageing as something ugly and avoidable, targeting a younger audience with younger skinner beautiful models and fashion to match. Photography and the youthful beautify model plays an important role in the fashion industry.

As part of a 15-month artist residency in Draíocht, I turned my camera (stills and video) on older residents of Dublin 15 who engaged candidly about fashion, themselves and their thoughts on invisibility in old age. Each participant reinterpreted a fashion shoot from Vogue and other magazine shoots, replacing the young body with the older one. Diary entries, portraits, interviews and workshops made up this project, comprising of photography and a video piece, titled Where Do You Think You’re Going?, which was exhibited at the end of the artist residency in Draíocht.

“”This uniform that’s now presented for older people is so lacking in imagination or creativity. It’s either trousers and a skirt, and straight from the shoulder with no waistline, no hint of any body shape at all. Supposedly being kind to older people to cover their lumps and bumps, but not really.”

Monica-Ann Dunne (video interview)

Reflections

Lilian Harris, who is in her 60s brought this up at a group discussion we had at the beginning of the project, which caused me to write something down in my notebook. Her thing was that she started to notice a new face at 40, and at 50 she started to see her mother looking back at her. Now in her 60s she has to get used to another face, which will change again in her 70s.

These images were made in their homes, engaging with and talking about their own reflection stories as they age.

Gallery

Reflections

This is Me

From group and individual meetings with participants at the beginning of the project, some of them wanted to be photographed in their own fashion, as themselves. My direction to them was to choose a location that was relevant to them and to wear something that they would wear to a special occasion.

A video interview was made with each person in this location, getting his or her views on fashion and growing older in general. With this process, the participants had control over almost every aspect of their representation – location, clothes, hair and make-up.

Gallery

This is Me

Eddie McGinley

Marino School, October 29th, 2010
Eddie went to school here as a child. We recreated an old photo of him as a student on his Confirmation day.

Bernadette Gallagher

Pheonix Park, June 28th, 2011
The first shoot was on Donabate beach in February. The Pheonix park is on Bernadette's doorstep.

Mary Toole

St.Stephens Green, June 2nd, 2011
Mary went to school in Loreto on the Green. She went to train and work in St. Vincent's hospital which was next door to the school.

Anne Flanagan

Anne's house, January 31st, 2011
This morning was particularly cold so we began in Anne's sitting room. We went to Lucan afterwards, where she used to visit her grandparents on holidays.

Betty Shanahan

Pheonix Park, February 19th, 2011
Betty lives inside the Pheonix Park. This photo was taken not far from her front garden. She's lived her for over 40 years.

Deirdre Owens

Phenoix Park, June 13th 2011
Deirdre remembers the pathway in the park from the times she would walk towards the Garda HQ to visit her Dad.

Vincent Reilly

Arbour Hill, November 11th, 2010
Vincent was born in this house.

Monica-Ann Dunne

Clongowes Wood, April 15th, 2011
Monica grew up in a house on the edge of Clongowes Wood, Co.Kildare.

Lilian Harris

The Weir at Lucan, January 24th, 2011
This was halfway between her birthplace and her grandparents house. It's also now her home.

Michael Tighe

Oldcastle, July 22nd, 2011
The house that Michael grew up in, Co.Meath.

My Way

Now in Autumn Years
Such a good time to glance back –
Relive those moments of joy, pain, tears, laughter
Each day a precious gift –
Full of wonder and gentle surprises –
To be savoured so much more fully
Because of my own maturing.
No need to rush –
To fill each hour with sixty new experiences –
A true appreciation of ‘ordinary’ things – familiar situations.
Wines: sipped not gulped – less frequent – more fine.
Food: ‘Less’ being really ‘more’.
Friends: so valued – rarer – pure gold
Love: Everlasting …

Would I turn back the clock?
Childhood? Adolescence?
The dizzy merry-go-round of my 20’s?
The challenges of my 30s, 40s, 50s –
My more reflective 60s?

Never!

Now, being 70-something
I have come home to myself.
A new starting-point
To continue the adventure of Life’s Journey
On different levels –
within the heart of the now ‘me’
In the vastness of the universe and its tantalising mystery
The one the more immense, mysterious,
The other even more profound
Oh! How glad I am to still have the passion
To Reach for the Stars …

Fashion recreated

My Way