Still At It
As I age, I have been struck by how marginalized older people often become in our country. Several years ago, my wife and I received a Fulbright award for a photographic project in India. We were amazed at how elders are perceived and treated in that culture; it is with respect, with an awareness that older people have invaluable life experiences and are most often eager to share stories and strategies. Here, on the other hand, we are often tossed aside. This makes little sense, as we are living longer and healthier, with many of us “still at it” after all these years, whatever “it” may be. My father was a photographer; I have been photographing since I was 8.
The portraits shown here are collaborations between myself and the subjects. For the most part, each person chose the images surrounding the central portrait, things that either I photographed at their direction or that they supplied. It is a means of expanding the narrative, telling a richer story than one image can contain.
This project is a celebration not only of some remarkable people, but a way to inspire all of us to keep using our talents towards a meaningful life for ourselves and others.
Alan Teller (78)
Museum exhibits developer; photographer; writer; curator; teacher and story-teller
