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CURATOR'S STATEMENT By Daniel Brown We have included in this exhibition centered around the subject of healing, this series of photographs and text by Cincinnati photographer Gordon Baer. They document the decline and death of his own aunt in an extended care facility in Kentucky: none of the events pictured occurred at The Chirst Hospital. Millions of Americans annually face death of a loved one, and millions would recognize the gamut of both facts and emotions captured in Baer's photographs, best symbolized by the narrowing of life to one small bed in one small room. Baer's aunt's handsome and noble face shows the helplessness and the dignity of this brave, courageous woman. We include images portraying the obviously shockingly appalling care she received, as well as images of her surrounded by loving, caring family members and caregivers. We believe that our viewers who have seen a loved one dying will receive that shock of empathic recognition that they may have gone through, or may be experiencing right now. Many of the photographs brought back both the frustrations and the fierce, protective love I experienced when my mother was dying and died in 1996. These photographs have helped me to remember as Baer bears witness to life's last great challenge. They have been healing for me. We are, ultimately, all helped in the face of death, but Baer's aunt's struggles are portrayed with kindness and love, as well as with honesty and deep integrity of the photojournalist at his best. if one of art's functions is to move us emotionally, then these extraordinary photographs by Gordon Baer, collaborating with his cousin Carol Nelson, represent art's highest achievements. We mourn for this woman because of the magic of Baer's talent, and we recognize something of ourselves and out own families in all of these strong but healing photographs. |