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87 comments:

  1. interesting...but I would not want to return to the days of my youth, too painful. I like where I am now, wrinkles and lines and all!

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  2. I think this montage has something to say about invisibility

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  3. My husband and I just finished our caregiver roles for our parents. My husband's father passed just 6 months ago and never saw himself as anything but youthful. He was 91. I would give my 1/2 acre in hell, as they say, to have all four of them back and not suffering.
    There's a lot of interest in caring for various groups of people. I think that there's too little thought given to caring to our elderly. With the number of baby boomers quickly approaching senility, the younger generations have quite a problem on their hands.

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    1. If I am old I will walk out in the snowstorm without a coat

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    2. When you get there you could well think very differently. Hopefully, you will still have your health and still feel young.

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  4. Guess some of still in our hearts and heads , are the younger version, personally I don’t think that is a bad thing. It is great to be young at heart, despite now being in my early sixties, In my head I don’t feel much different .

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  5. It makes me quite sad :( Yes, I wish people could see me the way I was when I was younger instead of just seeing a person they may assume is no longer as mentally sharp, informed, interesting, well-read, engaged, etc. because of the way we look. I certainly feel invisible most of the time these days... Love the photos - where are they from?

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    1. I have lost the thread , but I know it's an exhibition.

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  6. Anonymous10:36 pm

    These pictures remind me of a Fall Out Boy video

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  7. My thoughts are- this makes me cry. It is very true for me.

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  8. Two thoughts, my brain says 30 my body laughs and says almost twice that.

    When I see a person, do I see the person they believe they are? Do I see and older man, or a pharmacist or chemist? Will people see me as an old codger, or a lawyer who fought for the rights of older adults and persons with disabilities?

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    1. It angers me David people see old farts not productive people that happen to be older

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    2. Very true John. This is why I love the Netflix series Grace and Frankie. The leads are women in their 70's (Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin) and hey refuse to be cast aside and are very much sexy, funny women. It is time people see those over 70 have so much to give and yes can still, gasp, have sex.

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  9. I wouldn't be a teenager again for anyone. Thirties on the other hand...

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  10. When interacting with senior citizens, we should remind ourselves that once they were young and brave and beautiful - at the very forefront of everyday life. The being inside is the same as back then.

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    1. I was never beautiful when I was young

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    2. Of course you were/ are.

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    3. "beautiful" doesn't have to mean someone was like a model in a magazine but perhaps "beautiful" in their naivete, their energy, their optimism, the way their bodies hummed like well-oiled machines.

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  11. Seen this show of pictures a few years back. It was part of a dementia course I did. Afterwards in a dementia unit, there was a sweet German woman who would ask every morning who the old lady was in the mirror. In her mind, she was a young 18 year old escaping the Nazis to come live in Canada.

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  12. I don't know how I feel these days. Actually, I do, and can't come to terms with it.

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    1. Joanne, I’ve read 59 comments, and yours is the one I identify with. Sigh.

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  13. I love it. Not the same as seeing one's self at a younger age, but I often to look at elderly people and try to see them as they once were. For sure I wish young people could see oldsters as they were at earlier ages. We tend to categorize people as the age that we know them; it's kind of eye-opening to understand that old folks were once young and vital too. I still think of myself as young (though hopefully wiser, a benefit of age), but I've pretty much lost the sense of my younger looks.

    Anyhow, very interesting exhibition.

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  14. I'm 66 and this is how I look in the mirror everyday; just cannot believe that I'm the older generation. I still see myself in bell-bottom pants with hair all the way down my back, emulating Twiggy. And the music, wow.

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  15. Reflections of lives well-lived.

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    1. Older people need and deserve validation of lives lived

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    2. It's encourged in the school I work in. The children love to learn through real life experiences. Questions are always plentiful. It's lovely to see x

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  16. It breaks my heart. I see old people who were young and beautiful, strong and clever , who raised children and had jobs and kept families together .... and now they are frail and often times not well, and most often, alone , lonely and sad.
    I'm like Dianne, I see me .. but a lot younger and more carefree .. my life could not have been more different years ago.

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  17. I love this series; saw it somewhere on the internet before but I don't know where. I think about this fairly often and imagine what older people (like me, and older) might have looked like when they were younger, but also I wonder what little kids will look like when they get older. And I want to say to teens and twenty-somethings, Don't worry about your looks, you have youth on your side and that is always attractive. Also, you look the best you'll ever look for the rest of your life, in all likelihood!!

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  18. I am turning 65 in a few days. Part of sorting some things out I have been going through old family photos. My grandparents, my Mom and most surprising me when we were young. It was bitter sweet. I just don't think of myself or them as old.
    I made sure to show my daughter and my grandkids the photos so they would know their shared history.

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  19. I am (mostly) OK growing and looking old. I may be invisible to some but my grandchildren love my wrinkled old face. How lucky I am to be here and enjoy this phase of life.

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  20. Anonymous12:33 am

    I was recently in a mirror maze and this stupid old man was standing right in front of me and would not move. Ahh, that is me.

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  21. How they will always see themselves and others they love.
    Ruth in Oxnard CA. USA

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  22. My body won`t let me forget I`m not young anymore....but my brain keeps trying.

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  23. What she (only slightly confused) said.

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  24. I have so many thoughts around this!
    Older people are undervalued and underappreciated but I also know older people who stubbornly act like children at times. Is there some age where people are no longer expected to be accountable for their stupidities? or no longer expected to grow? Do we make allowances for them because they were once accomplished?
    Personally, I have always felt invisible so my relationship with the outside world doesn't change but I do get disappointed that my body doesn't reflect the richness of my internal life

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  25. Look closely at the photos. In nearly everyone the elder subject is looking fondly upon their younger selves. So the collection does not make me sad but reminds me we are all sums of our beautiful pasts. And if our pasts weren't so beautiful it reminds us to love ourselves for our strengths.

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  26. This brought tears to my eyes! Love it! And, SO TRUE! "Who's that old person in the mirror?"

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  27. Are these mirrors available in the shops; I need one!

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  28. Shocking what I see in the mirror sometimes. It is sad, for all of us.

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    1. I agree- I hate mirrors (and cameras!)

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  29. The first thought I had was it was representing part of dementia, seeing yourself as you once were or did you know who that young reflection was...Striking photos. Another thought how long have we been able to take photographs 150years? before that unless you could afford a portrait painted at vast expense other generations never saw their old folk as they once were in their youth. Mind you lives were very short in those days.

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  30. Sorry sounding a bit morose - it is seven in the morning and no coffee drunk yet..

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  31. One of my favourite things working in the charity shop and green grocers was chatting to elderly villagers about their lives.

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  32. Anonymous7:37 am

    It is called Reflections by the photographer Tom Hussey. He took the photos for the drug company Novartis for their Exelon patch which was used for mild dementia.

    Traveller

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  33. The moral here is 'never look in the mirror - always look forward.'

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  34. So beautiful....made my skin tingle
    x

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  35. We're seeing the reflection from the perspective of the elder ...flip that around to the other side ....would we have different thoughts ?

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  36. When I've brushed my teeth, combed my hair and shaved the man in the mirror looks 20 years younger than if I've simply rolled out of bed hungover.

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  37. Everyone has a story; it's a shame so many people think they haven't the time to find out about others' stories, then it becomes too late when they're gone. That saddens me.

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  38. I feel young inside but I don't see a young person looking back at me in the mirror. I don't recognise the old face looking back at me.

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  39. In the care home where my MiL lives there is a b&w photo pinned outside one of the rooms of a very glamorous lady. It is, of course, the 100 year old resident in her younger days. I think it not only helps remind people that elderly people have their past but also promotes respect.

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  40. It’s a commonly expressed view. My mother always talked about being shocked by the old woman in all her mirrors. I don’t have the same experience of my aging self, but it’s I think important to remind others that we all used to be young and different. Not necessarily better but different.

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  41. I love it, every time I look into the mirror I wonder who that old fart is, clearly it is not me!

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  42. In my heart I'm still very young...but my body tells me differently. But I do have so many memories.

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  43. Sometimes one of my young friends will take a picture of me on their phone using the app which shows you what you will look like when you get old. It doesn't work for me. I look exactly the same.

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    1. What, taken residence in the attic? You makes your bargain you falls through the ceiling.

      U

      U

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    2. No, I mean I look too old for the app to make me look any older. What it does is make you bald and put bags under your eyes. I just go bald. The bags are already there.

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  44. My MIL has dementia and she currently refers to her life between the ages of about 10 to 25. She never refers to any other times, for example when her own children were young, or when her husband was ill with brain cancer. So, in a way, she is reliving her youth and sees herself as quite young. Physically, she is extremely fit and healthy, but dementia has stolen her mind.
    I don't see an old woman in the mirror, yet, but I definitely see a different woman. As I get accustomed to her, I don't mind her too much. -Jenn

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  45. When I complained one day about getting older , my husband's response was " it beats the alternative" ...

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  46. As I head toward retirement, I feel very lucky that, while I've always had interesting and rewarding owrk, I've never particularly identified myself with my employment. The colleagues who seem to have the hardest time thinking about what comes next are the ones who can imagine themselves outside the office or without the little perks and pluses that come with it. I've enjoyed much of what I've done (and been very grateful that it's been moderately well-rewarded), but I'll move on to what comes next without much of a pang.

    I also feel very lucky indeed that I was raised largely around old people; I don't feel any particular trepidation heading toward 60 (and with luck, well beyond), having had such excellent role models. Health is a bit more of a crapshoot, but having already had one big crisis, I think I'm as well prepared as one can be for whatever hits next (*knocks wood*).

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  47. I find it harder to say my age than anything else

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  48. These are divine; haunting but beautiful.

    My son volunteered for a year in a nursing home. One of his projects was to help some of the lovely souls write a personal history book (help them with their “autobiography,” as it were). He said it was sad in some ways but lovely in many others; that even though these people were having trouble in their daily lives, their memories of different times and places were so vivid, and they loved being able to tell those stories to another.

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  49. Yeah. When I see youngers running, skiing, playing ball I remember that I did that once, I had my time, and it was good. Memories.....

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  50. I went to an old friend’s funeral a while ago. I hadn’t seen him or his family for over 20 years. A middle-aged, slightly portly man walked up to me and said my name, and with the sound of his voice I realised it was my friend’s younger brother. All of a sudden the years fell away and I saw him as he had been - a gorgeous-looking young lad full of life and cheek. He honestly looked completely different to me in that moment of recognition. Perception is a peculiar thing.

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  51. Thanks for bring this to your readers' attention, John. Very moving.

    I don't see those pictures through melancholic eyes. A little wistful, yes. Neither do I agree with your suggestion of "invisibility". Some people age beautiful - as I keep telling my sister since she is obsessed with her looks. Kylie on the other hand, in her comment above, undersells herself; she may, of course, have felt "invisible" all her life, regardless of age, but that does not necessarily stack up to reality. Perception, the way we perceive ourselves - ha, the very trap so many fall into.

    I think the closest I have yet to come to your mirror images, and maybe you can relate, is when I look at photos. What I see most isn't youth, it's innocence. As to looks, luckily my family of origin (both sides) are blessed with good genes. God knows how I'd cope with collagen collapsing at speed before I am about 101.

    Anyway, whenever I look in the mirror I say "Hello, nice of you to still look back at me".

    U

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  52. This wonderful collection of photos brings on so many emotions for me. At 71 a glimpse in a mirror is a nasty surprise - I see my unpleasant mother. I search and mourn for the body this mind once lived in and the body in the mirror reminds me that there will not be time to do everything and go everywhere I would like. My glass is half empty no matter how hard I try.
    Jocelyn

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  53. It's a lovely group of photos...and a bit sad....and very true. I am always fascinated by the fact that when I look in the mirror, I don't look all that bad...I don't see myself much younger as these photos indicate, but think I am seeing the 'real' me and I am satisfied. THEN, I see a photo and it is a whole different person...I look much older than I do in the mirror (I am 74). This is fascinating to me...so does the mirror lie?

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  54. I'm with jason on this I would have liked he photos set the other wat around . When I was young I longed to be older

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  55. Can't relate. I only feel young when I DON'T look in the mirror!

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  56. These reminded me of my great aunt's friend use to say, "When I was young I looked like a little old woman, now that I'm old I look like a little old man." She never married and traveled around the world on her own. I inherited her trunk of souvenirs.

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  57. Wow! Incredibly poignant photos and what an effective way of portraying that no matter how old we get we still feel young inside.

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  58. I wonder if they feel as old as they look or are they like me. Most days I forget I'm sixty-one.

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  59. I intend to smash all the mirrors in my house.

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  60. As a girl I was pretty well pleased with myself. In my thirties I began to feel like a grown up? In my late fifties invisibility struck, now that I am eighty suddenly folk can see me again. Can I help you dear? No thank you, but it is good to be asked. The pictures are lovely but sad, time passes so quickly.

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  61. How thought provoking and moving. Thank you John!

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  62. Today is my birthday and I've turned -- (well next year will be even harder to believe when I'm 75), go figure, haha!!!!!
    I'm told I don't look/act my age (kindness or lies?) and I know I definitely don't feel it, except early in the mornings before the aches and pains are gradually worked through!
    My biggest fear is that I'll be left without my good guy to help me, and my kids/grandkids won't want to bother with me, even though I've done so much to try and keep the family together and be what we all hope for. . . . . . . . . .a real family. I may walk out into that snowstorm with you John!

    Stay young - be happy, each day IS special!

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  63. Reminds me of the poem which was written by an old lady and found in locker after she had died " what do you see nurse ? A crabby old lady" Google to see full poem .

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  64. I hate being old, I feel ugly,and wrinkled
    and pretty much useless.
    Very recently my husband was taken from
    me by that devil Alzheimer's.
    He would look at himself in the mirror
    and be so confused. These pictures make
    me so very very sad.
    I think being old is a waste of space.
    Being old and alone is even worse.
    God! I hate being old!

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  65. A lovely post today ah the memories of youth but still being among the living will do quite nicely.

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  66. Poignant.

    Sometimes I look in the mirror and I'm not even there!!

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  67. I have seen this before, the photo's are wonderful.

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