DSDN144 Project 1 Proposal

For my first project for DSDN144 Digital Photographics, I have chosn to investigate and photograph elements of retirement homes, in particular Parkwood Retirement Home in Waikanae.

To me, retirement homes house an innate sense of mortality overcast with a distinctive facade of happiness; my grandad has always made reference to the birds in the birdcage outside his window stating that all who find themselves within the walls of the rest home are trapped and simply waiting to die. Everyone I have met there is under no illusion as to the intention of the facility - to house and oversee the elderly until their time has come and to provide every assistance required to get there, yet both the people and the place provide an image of escapism. Exotic trees in white plastic pots and colourful birds line the hallways of cells, cuisine in white plastic trays speak of faraway countries never to be seen again, yet oddly what would seem like a hellish tragedy to the young is a sacred sanctuary to the old.

It is my intention to understand and portray these notions within my photography, to show from the eyes of our elders what it means to be old and the space manufactured to aid them comfortably into the next life.