"I think it's a very strong image, and at the same time, one I wouldn't have made. Therein one of the spiritual conflicts of photography. You can put it in to the same catergory as Don McCullin's shots of the albino boy in Africa, starving to death holding a tin... McCullin wasn't happy at all but still felt compelled." - Rob C
That's what I wrote.
It's not a condemnation nor does it purport ownership of any deeper knowledge of the photographed situation.
Two thoughts. First, I get that you did not intend what you said as condemnation. But I still contend that when we say to someone who did something that we would not have done it, it is very hard to remove that element of judgement even if it is not intended. However, the OP has already said he did not take it that way, so my point is moot. Second, being in the middle of this life event with a loved one I cannot see this image in the same light as one of a starving child. That seems a stretch to me.
If anything, I suppose I see it as one of those things of which anyone over fifty is all too aware, and hardly needs documenting.
Now that seems a little unfair. What
needs to be documented? Especially among amateur photographers? Depending on one's perspective we could claim that nothing needs documenting. Anyway, I see lots of reasons that documenting an image like this is valuable. Matter of perspective, I guess.
For younger people the situation may well be invisible.
Seems to me that is reason enough to document it.
So I guess that I see it as just another of the sad, almost inevitable aspects of living, and in no way something I'd want to put on film, as it were.
You could say this about almost any aspect of life, no? That beautiful rosy cheeked toddler is going to end up like this just as the 19 year old fashion model. Life is life.
I really prefer finding the beautiful aspects of life
Of course. Me too. The danger there is of course the saccharin and the overly sentimental. But I have to say, along with the ancient Greeks I would guess, that there is beauty in pathos and tragedy. I think of the chapter in Fred Chappell's book, I Am One of You Forever when the telegram comes to tell the family that their adopted son was killed in a military training accident. Each family member metaphorically tries to hide and destroy the yellow telegram but it keeps reappearing. Sometimes in a jacket pocket, sometimes on the dining room table, sometimes folded into a rose shape. It is among the most beautiful things I have ever read. Likewise his chapter in Farewell I'm Bound to Leave you where the matriarch of the family is dying a natural death and all the clocks start turning backward, the wind shakes the old house and in her delerium tells the daughter what she is experiencing as she passes on to a better place.
Do I need that sort of sadness in my life right now? No. But again, possibly the most beautiful things I've ever read. Helps me deal with the events in my own life too, though.
That's sort of what I see in this picture. I'm a perfect example, I suppose, of what Russ says about art in general. I took the ball and ran in my own direction. I see my father sitting in that chair, in the sunshine, being cared for. In his current situation, this is as good as it gets and would be better than most days. Sad but silver lined maybe?
In any case, as the OP mentions, it has spoken to a number of us in a meaningful way.