14 Comments

I am a long-term fan of this project and it is heartwarming to see Clare, Buz and Debbie's inspiring work reaching a wider public. This is a project that goes beyond the art gallery into people's everyday lives, especially those who are struggling with long-term debilitating conditions when it can be forgotten that they are also human, and when the medication and the debility carve away at their outward appearance and personality. The essence is always there - and this is what Clare places at the centre of each of her amazing pictures.
Sue Weston
2010-10-02 07:24:32

I know this is gonna sound like a really stupid comment, but that first picture has to be a kind of homage to Aphex Twin's & Chris Cunningham Come to daddy video. It HAS to be.
Benito
2010-10-03 16:52:38

I think this work is incredibly powerful. The photographs allow the viewer to glimpse the strength of Buz and the ravages of the illness. They offer both a closeness and a distance - we are afterall not Buz. They also generate a sense of the relationship between the photographer and the photographed - a closeness, a friendship and the distance created by the lens. So many emotions; I want to turn away but I cannot and I do not really want to. Indeed, I want to see the crevices, the details but I am scared. I love this work.
Nancy Hauserman
2010-10-03 20:22:22

Buz may be my brother, but I am in awe of him. Lynda
Lynda Scott-Williams
2010-10-05 19:46:53

Benito, you're not the only one that thinks that!
Matt Hellier
2010-10-05 22:17:40

I remember Buz as a sparky teenager and I salute his courage in being a part of this tri-part collaboration. We ALL need to look and remember that any debilitating disease does not diminish our status as a member of the tribe Human. When my mother was dying recently of a brain tumour (and very old age!) I was in awe of her carer who never, ever let her feel that she wasn't anything but here with us as a functioning person. We can all learn from this - and, oh, the images are frightening and awesome. But there is a tenderness between photographer and subject that make them somehow that bit less fearsome. I am just delighted that this project is achieving the recognition it deserves. May it go on to higher and greater things. And if it makes just ONE person stop and think, then hooray!!
Jenny Rolfe
2010-10-06 10:41:02

I've known Clare since she was knee high to my knees. She was, in fact, in my first exhibition "The Photographic Print" nearly 40 years ago. From the start she was rubbing shoulders with such luminaries as Norman Parkinson, Jeanloup Sieff, Barry Lategan, Terry O'neill, not as a model as she was, but as a photographer.
I "make" pictures - in an earlier time as a b/w printer, and now using Photoshop. My job is to manipulate images to make them stand out. There is nothing, not a thing, I can do to make "From Real to Sacred" stand out any stronger. It will become, if not already, one of those iconic images that, once seen, will forever be embedded in ones mind. It is a powerful image: no words can describe it, or explain it - it's beyond mere words, that's how powerful it is.
Gene Nocon, FRPS
2010-10-07 17:16:20

I really think these are profound and beautiful pictures - the ageing and failing body is such a taboo these days, and these pics face it head-on with not a trace of sentimentality, but great compassion.
A brilliant achievement by photographer and subject, to challenge the popular assumptions about beauty, and under such daunting circumstances.
Jack Bellingham
2010-10-07 22:42:34

About time Clare got the recognition she deserves for her work its been a long time coming but I have always admired her ability to stick to her guns and do what she wants and to shoot things that have deep meaning for her and to others - she's a little gem that will eventually be noticed and recognised as an enormous talent one day and I hope that day has come because she deserves every bit of it! In fact I would go further and say that I think she is one of this country's most accomplished Art Photographers of our time. Good luck Clare - stick to your guns for I know you will be accoladed for your work in time.
Jim Lee
2010-10-10 21:48:50

Hi Clare,
We met at the WPC with Buz and Debbie. I think Chris emailed you a few weeks ago about the Parkinson's Easy Phone trial. It starts in a week or so which is exiciting. It would be great to get Buz involved if he's interested. I thought now might be a good time to speak with Liz Hoggard. Maybe we can meet for
a coffee and catch up?
Best regards,
Tom
Thomas Sunderland
2010-11-22 11:54:52

I work for Parkinson's UK and was looking thorugh the Internet for a logo when I stumbled across these pictures. I was at first shocked by the devastation of Parkinson's, but I was then delighted to discover that the photo was taken by the subject. The self exposure seems so much more empowering and a wonderful reminder that we are not just our bodies, but so much more. Thank you!

Cheryl
Cheryl Ford
2011-01-05 15:24:29

Hi Clare, Debbie and Buz,
Amazing images and so powerful.
Ita
Ita O'Brien
2011-01-17 16:44:37

as I have recently finished a collaboration on my grandmothers dementia with my grandfather, I have found it inspiring that other people are creating work around similar degenerative illnesses. throughout my research, I found almost no other artists/photographers/etc who were doing work around this subject. I can't wait to go see the work.
Gen
2011-05-06 16:37:10

I h ave known
bus and debbie about eighteen years
ago .i,m italian from naples i nave live d in their housefor three weeks .it had been a wonderful experience they were so kind and lovely with me and i come back another two Times no words can describe what i felt looking those so powerful image
You Are special
Kiss matilda jemima and malcom you Are lucky to' have special parents
I love you Irene
Irene
2011-06-13 21:46:02

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