Paediatric Palliative Photography (PPP), Part 4 of 4: Reflections, and the Editing Process

Part 4: Reflections, and the Editing Process

I believe, as do more than a few neuroscientists, that the memory of a specific event is not solely a "flashbulb" moment but is rather, an aggregation of images accumulated over the years. My current memory of my wedding day 33 years ago is made up of photos taken by different people, some shown to us years after the wedding, and of stories told, retold, and reshaped by the people telling them. For the times my wife and I  stood together on that day 33 years ago, her memory will be different from mine.

Photography has the powerful ability to reconstitute what's in our heads so it is very critical that we carefully consider what gets released to the patient's family. It is entirely possible that their recollection of that day's events, as well as their stay in the hospital, will be significantly based on a collection of photos taken with cell phones and by the hospital photographer.

The photographs should document the reality of the situation with tenderness and love, with an acceptance of grim reality, in the presence of family and friends. There are posing techniques (beyond the scope of this post to pursue) that emphasize the connective bonds within the family, that these bonds will endure past the grief. These photographs will be shared with people not in the room and will be seen by children in the room too young to remember. These will be needed to reaffirm the strength of bonds that may be weakened with the passing of a child. These images will live on as long as there are devices to read digital information.

So it is essential to carefully consider what gets released to the patient's family. For example, for a group photo taken in a burst of 4 shots, 3 shots may have 1 key member looking away from the camera with what may be construed as a "smirk". Viewed a few years down the road, and taken out of context, a casual interpretation would be of an "uncaring" family member. It is essential that no matter what the good technical merits of these shots are, they should be discarded and not released to the family.

AND THEN THERE IS VIDEO. But this is for another post.