I received a link to an article about a nursing home’s calendar project.  They had photographed their residents in classic film roles for each month.  It’s awesome.

I worked with the woman who sent it to me a few years ago in a therapeutic rec. position in a long term care facility.  She and I did an event weekly for a while that we called “Glamor Shots for the Elderly”.  Once a week we would bring in our boas, hats, jewelry and makeup and doll the girls up for their photo session.  The room we used had ceiling high windows facing south so I used nothing but natural light.  I have to tell you this was a huge hit, not only with the residents but with their families.

Many of these residents were on a hospice wing.  They were all more than game to play dress up with us and would pick out their best outfits to come in for their “photo shoot”.

What started out as a lark turned into something that they really looked forward to, and gave their families a photograph of the playful side of their people.  We made them feel beautiful and special for an afternoon and I believe we sent prints of the images to the families for holidays.

I have to say this was one of the best photography related things I have ever done.  Maybe not so much for the images as for what it did for the people we photographed.

It’s been a long time since I’ve worked in long term care but my friend’s message, “Joanne, when we run our own LTC center we are totally doing this!” made me think I should really think about doing this again.