Photography and Alzheimer's

Sheila and Mom in 2012

by Skip Cohen

​In early September, I decided to make a change in my life. I'm not stepping away from my love for this industry, but I'm cutting back a little to make time for working with the Memory Care Alliance, helping families and patients with Alzheimer's.

The Memory Care Alliance is the vision of one of Sarasota's most respected neurologists, Dr. Mauricio Concha. He runs the Intercoastal Memory Clinic, which launched the Alliance, a community-based network of compassionate and experienced providers dedicated to providing the highest standard of care for patients and families dealing with Alzheimer's. The members are neuropsychologists, clinical psychologists, mental health counselors, psychiatrists, geriatric care managers, home health care agencies, adult day care, support groups, respite care, and legal counseling. 

On the group's private Facebook page, I decided each week to share a new stock image from Adobe that results from a one-word search, "Alzheimer's."  There are hundreds of photos, from the most abstract A.I. created to more personal ones like the four above.

Today, when I posted the first picture in the top left, I realized why I liked it so much. It may be one of the most real. I have dozens just like it of Sheila and my mother, who was fighting the battle with Alzheimer's.

Heading into the craziness of holiday seasonality and the stress, anxiety, and excitement that comes along with this time of year - take a minute and think about something. Where would the world be without photography?

In those moments ahead, when you feel like you're out of bandwidth, take time to pat yourself on the back. As a professional photographer, you've become an accomplished magician and learned to stop time. You help people turn intangible memories into tangible moments they can hold in their hands and cherish for a lifetime!

Alzheimer's is a horrible disease, robbing us of our loved ones, literally as we watch. I couldn't be more excited to be working on this new project, but at the same time, I'm so proud to be part of the imaging industry that I stumbled into a lifetime ago.
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In those most difficult years of dealing with Alzheimer's and my Mom, one of her most favorite activities was looking through old albums. With each turn of the page, so many memories came flowing back. Mom might not have remembered where she even was, but could tell you the names and stories behind each photograph.

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