ge will and Adina are three senior
citizens connected by a special
relationship they view their bond as a
shield from the loneliness of aging I
first met them at a retirement home in
Los Angeles where I had been
photographing for three years I saw as
they approached the gate one night and
felt an immediate connection to them
although I didn't know the details of
their love triangle I intuitively felt
that I had to find out who they were
questioning a nurse a day later she said
to me oh you're talking about the three
son I was intrigued
the trio set out on a daily adventure to
coffee and donut shops bus stops and
street corners I soon learned that the
purpose of these outings was solace and
a search for meaning
the trio sought to combat their
alienation by literally integrating
themselves in public streets yet even
when arm and arm
no one saw them we often think that as
we age we lose the desires held in our
youth actually as a teenage
photojournalist when I met the trio I
saw their behavior as a mirror to the
fears of exclusion and desires for
intimacy that I also carried I related
to their invisibility which pained me
during my childhood but has become my
greatest asset as an immersive
documentarian because I can just fade
into my empathy as we walk down the
streets of Hollywood in a neighborhood
of screenwriters actors and filmmakers
the trio assumed the invisibility that
each senior does I would ask myself how
is it that no one else sees these three
human beings why is it that I am the
only one who sees them years later as I
began to share this work with the public
I noticed that people are largely
uncomfortable with this story perhaps it
is because the trio doesn't assume
conventional notions associated with
love romance or partnership they were
unseen in public and shunned by their
peers they wanted to belong somewhere
but only seemed to belong with each
other
I wanted to belong somewhere too and my
camera has been a catalyst for me to
belong everywhere but beyond challenging
socio-cultural norms about the elderly
the trio sheds light on fear of
remoteness at the end of each day they
return to their respective retirement
homes under the surface of their
aloneness there is a desire for
community for their peace
there was a sense that they were each
yearning for their tribe but that
comfort comes with compromise because
will cannot commit to one woman sitting
with Jeannie one day in her apartment
she said to me sharing will is a thorn
in your side a relationship between a
man and a woman is private it is a
couple not a trio my process is to
essentially become the people I document
by spending years with them as an
observer occupant to create a safe space
to then become hidden in plain sight I
was about 17 when I met the trio and I
shadowed them for four years we actually
see in the breakdown of social
development that adolescents and old age
look strikingly alike because both are
periods of identity confusion I
identified with the women but also with
will who made me aware of the divide in
me the schism that we each often have
about what we crave and the actuality of
our situation before shooting this
series I was also in love with two
different people who knew about each
other being the object over which they
fought but I also knew what it was like
to be at the base of the triangle like
Jeannie or Adina asking myself why
aren't I enough I would look through my
viewfinder and see three elderly figures
and it became impossible to deny that
regardless of age we were each in
pursuit of filling the proverbial hole
through other people perhaps the
discomfort of looking at Jeannie will
and a DNS story is truly a reminder that
even at the end of life we may never
reach the fantasy we have envisioned for
ourselves thank you for listening
[Applause]