ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tony Luciani - Artist
Tony Luciani picked up a camera in 2014 to document his aging mom's struggle with dementia, beginning a four-year-long voyage of discovery.

Why you should listen

Tony Luciani picked up a camera in 2014 to document his aging mom's struggle with dementia, and it was the imaginative expression of the collaboration that propelled his work internationally. After more than 40 years as a full-time painter, Luciani garnered worldwide attention with this four-year-long photography series. Their voyage of discovery, expressing the benefits of inclusion and participation within a creative medium, has gone beyond the boundaries of recognizing it as just a personal visual diary.

Luciani graduated from Toronto's Ontario College of Art in 1977 with prestigious honors. At age 21, he was encouraged to continue with his fifth-year post-graduate study in Florence, Italy. It was there that he found maturity while carefully observing the historical paintings of the Renaissance Masters. Upon returning, he was promptly accepted for representation by a well-respected and established Canadian art gallery.

In defining his work, Luciani prefers to be placed in a tradition of realism, which is both interpretive and characterized by focused observation. As a photographer, he likes defining his imagery as an "obvious extension" to what he already creates as an artist.

Luciani's art can be found in private, public and corporate collections globally. An unabridged edition of one-hundred photographs titled "MAMMA, In the Meantime" is in the collection of the local chapter of the Canadian Alzheimer Society. He is represented by Loch Gallery in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary.

More profile about the speaker
Tony Luciani | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxCambridge

Tony Luciani: A mother and son's photographic journey through dementia

東尼路西亞尼: 母子一同面對失智的攝影之旅

Filmed:
531,090 views

藝術家東尼路西亞尼測試新相機的時候,他 91 歲的媽媽艾莉亞溜進了照片的背景之中。這張無心的照片帶來了一年的合作,路西亞尼記錄他媽媽與失智共存的生活和精神。在這場感人的演說中,他分享了一些他們最愛的照片背後的故事,捕捉了照顧年邁父母的喜悅和悲傷。
- Artist
Tony Luciani picked up a camera in 2014 to document his aging mom's struggle with dementia, beginning a four-year-long voyage of discovery. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
When my 91-year-old-歲 mother母親, Elia埃利亞,
moved移動 in with me,
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當我九十一歲的媽媽
艾莉亞搬來跟我一起住時,
00:17
I thought I was doing her a service服務.
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我認為我是在服務她。
00:20
In fact事實, it was the other way around.
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事實卻正好相反。
00:23
You see, Mom媽媽 was having issues問題
with memory記憶 loss失利 and accepting驗收 her age年齡.
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我媽媽有失憶的問題,
而且她無法接受她的年紀。
00:29
She looked看著 defeated打敗.
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她看起來很挫折。
00:31
I tried試著 to make her
as comfortable自在 as possible可能,
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我盡可能讓她舒服些,
00:35
but when I was at my easel畫架, painting繪畫,
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但當我在畫架前畫畫時,
00:37
I would peek窺視 over
and see her just ... there.
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我會偷瞄,看到她就在「那裡」。
00:41
She'd be staring凝視 at nothing in particular特定.
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她並沒有真的在看什麼。
00:45
I'd watch her slowly慢慢地 climb the stairs樓梯,
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我會看著她慢慢地爬上樓梯,
00:49
and she wasn't the mom媽媽 I grew成長 up with.
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那不是我成長過程中的那個媽媽。
00:52
I saw, instead代替, a frail脆弱,
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取而代之,我看到的是一個虛弱、
00:55
tiny, old woman女人.
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瘦小的老婦人。
01:01
A few少數 weeks went by,
and I needed需要 a break打破 from my painting繪畫.
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幾週過去了,我作畫
也需要休息一下。
01:04
I wanted to play with the new camera相機
I had just bought.
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我想要玩玩我剛買的相機。
01:07
I was excited興奮 --
it had all sorts排序 of dials錶盤,
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我很興奮——它有
各式各樣的控制器、
01:10
buttons鈕扣 and settings設置 I wanted to learn學習,
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按鈕、設定,我想好好學一下,
01:13
so I set up my tripod
facing面對 this large mirror鏡子,
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我把我的三腳架設定好,
面向這面大鏡子,
01:18
blocking閉塞 the doorway門口
to the only bathroom浴室 in the house.
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擋住了整間房子中
通往浴室的唯一通道。
01:23
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
01:25
After a while, I hear,
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不久後,我聽到:
01:29
(Imitating冒充 Italian意大利 accent口音)
"I need to use the washroom衛生間."
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「我要上廁所。」
(模仿義大利口音)
01:31
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
01:32
"Five minutes分鐘, Mom媽媽. I need to do this."
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「五分鐘就好,媽。
我得把這弄好。」
01:36
15 minutes分鐘 later後來, and I hear, again,
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十五分鐘後,我再次聽到:
01:42
"I need to use the washroom衛生間."
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「我要上廁所。」
01:45
"Five more minutes分鐘."
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「再五分鐘。」
01:47
Then this happened發生.
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接著就變成這樣。
01:53
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
01:57
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
02:05
And this.
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還有這樣。
02:09
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
02:14
And then, this.
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接著,這樣。
02:19
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
02:25
I had my "aha!" moment時刻.
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我有了「啊哈!」的一刻。
02:29
We connected連接的.
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我們連結了。
02:30
We had something tangible有形
we could do together一起.
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有了件很實在的事情,
是我們可以一起做的。
02:36
My mom媽媽 was born天生 in a small
mountain village in central中央 Italy意大利,
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我媽媽是在義大利中部山區的
小村落中出生的,
02:41
where her parents父母 had land土地 and sheep.
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她的父母在那裡擁有土地和羊群。
02:44
At a young年輕 age年齡,
her father父親 died死亡 of pneumonia肺炎,
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她很小的時候,她的爸爸
就因為肺炎過世,
02:47
leaving離開 his wife妻子 and two daughters女兒 alone單獨
with all the heavy chores瑣事.
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把他的農莊雜務留給
他的妻子和兩個女兒。
02:53
They found發現 that they couldn't不能 cope應付.
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她們發現她們實在承受不了。
02:56
So a very hard decision決定 was made製作.
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所以做了一個很艱難的決策。
02:59
Mom媽媽, the oldest最老的, at 13,
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我媽是長女,十三歲,
03:02
was married已婚 off to a complete完成
stranger陌生人 twice兩次 her age年齡.
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出嫁給年齡是她兩倍的陌生人。
03:08
She went from being存在 just a kid孩子
and was pushed into adulthood成年.
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她本來只是個孩子,
被迫長大為成人。
03:14
Mom媽媽 had her first child兒童
when she was only 16.
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她才十六歲時就有了第一個孩子。
03:20
Years年份 later後來, and now living活的 in Toronto多倫多,
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數年後一直到現在,
媽媽都住在多倫多,
03:23
Mom媽媽 got work in a clothing服裝 factory
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在一間衣服工廠工作,
03:26
and soon不久 became成為 manager經理
of a very large sewing針線活 department.
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很快就在一個非常大的
縫紉部門當上主管。
03:31
And because it was full充分
of immigrant移民 workers工人,
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因為很多工人都是移民者,
03:34
Mom媽媽 taught herself她自己 words
from translation翻譯 books圖書.
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媽媽透過翻譯書來自學字詞。
03:38
She then practiced them in French法國,
Greek希臘語, Spanish西班牙語, Portuguese葡萄牙語, Danish丹麥,
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接著,她在家裡到處練習,
用法語、希臘語、西班牙語、
葡萄牙語、丹麥語、波蘭語、
俄語、羅馬尼亞語、匈牙利語。
03:42
Polish拋光, Russian俄語, Romanian羅馬尼亞, Hungarian匈牙利,
all around the house.
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03:47
I was in awe威嚴 of her focus焦點
and determination決心 to succeed成功
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我好敬畏她對於自己熱愛的事
所投入的專注和成功的決心。
03:53
at whatever隨你 she loved喜愛 to do.
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03:56
After that bathroom浴室 "aha!" moment時刻,
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在浴室的「啊哈!」時刻之後,
03:59
I practiced my newfound新發現 camera相機 skills技能
with Mom媽媽 as portrait肖像 model模型.
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我讓我媽媽當模特兒,
來練習我新發現的相機技巧。
04:05
Through通過 all of this,
she talked, and I listened聽了.
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在這個過程中,她說,我聽。
04:08
She'd tell me about her early childhood童年
and how she was feeling感覺 now.
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她跟我說她孩童時期的事,
以及她現在的感受。
04:13
We had each other's其他 attention注意.
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我們擁有彼此的注意力。
04:17
Mom媽媽 was losing失去 her short-term短期 memory記憶,
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媽媽失去的是她的短期記憶,
04:19
but was better recalling回顧
her younger更年輕 years年份.
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但她較會回憶起她更早些的時期。
04:23
I'd ask, and she would tell me stories故事.
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只要我問,她就會跟我說故事。
04:25
I listened聽了, and I was her audience聽眾.
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我會傾聽,我是她的聽眾。
04:29
I got ideas思路.
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我有想法產生。
04:31
I wrote them down,
and I sketched草圖 them out.
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我會把想法寫下來,
再把它們畫出來。
04:34
I showed顯示 her what to do
by acting演戲 out the scenarios場景 myself.
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我會親自把情境給演出來,
用這種方式告訴她該做什麼。
04:40
We would then stage階段 them.
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接著我們就會開始上演。
04:42
So she posed構成, and I learned學到了
more about photography攝影.
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她會擺姿勢,
而我會學到更多攝影。
04:48
Mom媽媽 loved喜愛 the process處理, the acting演戲.
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媽媽很愛這個過程,演戲的部分。
04:53
She felt worthy值得 again,
she felt wanted and needed需要.
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她再次感到自己有價值,
有人想要她、需要她。
04:58
And she certainly當然 wasn't camera-shy相機害羞.
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她在鏡頭前一點也不害羞。
05:00
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
05:04
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
05:12
Mom媽媽 laughed笑了 hysterically歇斯底里 at this one.
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拍這張時,媽媽笑到歇斯底里。
05:16
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
05:19
The idea理念 for this image圖片
came來了 from an old German德語 film電影 I'd seen看到,
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這張影像的想法來自於
我看過的一部德國老片,
05:23
about a submarine潛艇, called "Das達斯 Boot."
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《從海底出擊》,
是部關於潛水艇的電影。
05:26
As you can see, what I got instead代替
looked看著 more like "E.T."
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你們可以看到,我拍出的結果
更像《外星人》的 E.T.。
05:30
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
05:32
So I put this image圖片 aside在旁邊,
thinking思維 it was a total failure失敗,
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我把這張影像放到一邊去,
認為它完全是失敗之作,
05:35
because it didn't reach達到
my particular特定 vision視力.
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因為它沒有達到
我想像中的那個樣子。
05:38
But Mom媽媽 laughed笑了 so hard,
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但我媽媽笑得好用力,
05:41
I eventually終於, for fun開玩笑,
decided決定 to post崗位 it online線上 anyway無論如何.
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最終,為了好玩,
我還是決定把它放上網。
05:47
It got an incredible難以置信 amount of attention注意.
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它得到了非常大量的關注。
05:51
Now, with any Alzheimer's老年癡呆症, dementia癡呆,
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不論是阿茲海默、失智症,
05:56
there's a certain某些 amount
of frustration挫折 and sadness
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任何相關的人都免不了
會有一定的挫折感和感傷。
05:59
for everyone大家 involved參與.
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06:02
This is Mom's媽媽的 silent無聲 scream驚叫.
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這是媽媽的沉默尖叫。
06:06
Her words to me one day were,
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有一天,她對我說的是:
06:08
"Why is my head so full充分 of things to say,
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「為什麼我的腦中滿滿都是
我想要說的東西,
06:12
but before they reach達到 my mouth,
I forget忘記 what they are?"
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但它們到我的嘴巴之前,
我就已經把它們都忘了?」
06:20
"Why is my head so full充分 of things to say,
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「為什麼我的腦中滿滿都是
我想要說的東西,
06:27
but before they reach達到 my mouth,
I forget忘記 what they are?"
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但它們到我的嘴巴之前,
我就已經把它們都忘了?」
06:33
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
06:44
Now, as full-time全職 care關心 partner夥伴
and full-time全職 painter畫家,
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身為全職的照護夥伴
以及全職的畫家,
06:49
I had my frustrations挫折 too.
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我也會有我的挫折感。
06:53
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
06:55
But to balance平衡 off
all the difficulties困難, we played發揮.
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但我們會用玩樂來平衡
所有這些難處。
06:58
That was Mom's媽媽的 happy快樂 place地點.
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那是我媽媽能感到快樂的地方。
07:01
And I needed需要 her to be there, too.
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我也需要她在那裡。
07:05
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
07:10
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
07:15
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
07:19
Now, Mom媽媽 was also preoccupied斤斤計較 with aging老化.
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媽媽會一直想著「變老」這件事。
07:22
She would say,
"How did I get so old, so fast快速?"
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她會說:「我怎麼會
這麼快就變得這麼老?」
07:29
(Audience聽眾 sighs嘆息)
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(觀眾嘆氣)
07:41
"So old."
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「這麼老。」
07:48
"So fast快速."
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「這麼快。」
07:53
I also got Mom媽媽 to model模型
for my oil paintings繪畫.
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我也讓媽媽當我油畫的模特兒。
07:57
This painting繪畫 is called "The Dressmaker裁縫."
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這幅畫叫做「裁縫師」。
08:02
I remember記得, as a kid孩子,
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我記得,我小時候,
08:05
Mom媽媽 sewing針線活 clothes衣服 for the whole整個 family家庭
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媽媽會為全家人縫衣服,
08:07
on this massive大規模的, heavy sewing針線活 machine
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用的是一台又大又重的縫紉機,
08:11
that was bolted狂奔
to the floor地板 in the basement地下室.
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放在地下室,固定在地板上。
08:15
Many許多 nights, I would go downstairs樓下
and bring帶來 my schoolwork學校工作 with me.
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許多晚上,我會帶著
我的學校作業下樓去。
08:20
I would sit behind背後 her
in this overstuffed軟墊 chair椅子.
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我會坐在她身後一張
墊得又軟又厚的椅子上。
08:25
The low hum of the huge巨大 motor發動機
and the repetitive重複 stitching拼接 sounds聲音
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巨大馬達的低沉嗡嗡聲,
以及不斷重覆的縫紉聲,
08:30
were comforting欣慰的 to me.
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很能安撫我。
08:33
When Mom媽媽 moved移動 into my house,
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當媽媽搬到我家來時,
08:35
I saved保存 this machine and stored存儲 it
in my studio工作室 for safekeeping保管.
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我保存了這台機器,
把它保存在我的工作室裡。
08:40
This painting繪畫 brought me
back to my childhood童年.
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這幅畫把我帶回了我的童年。
08:44
The interesting有趣 part部分
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有趣的是,
08:46
was that it was now Mom媽媽,
sitting坐在 behind背後 me,
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現在是我媽媽坐在我身後,
08:51
watching觀看 me paint塗料 her
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看著我畫她,
08:53
working加工 on that very same相同
machine she sewed at
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我現在用的就是當年
她用來縫紉的機器,
08:57
when I satSAT behind背後 her, watching觀看 her sew,
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只是當時是我坐在
她身後,看著她縫紉,
09:01
50 years年份 earlier.
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那是五十年前。
09:07
I also gave Mom媽媽 a project項目 to do,
to keep her busy and thinking思維.
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我也給了媽媽一個專案計畫,
讓她能有事可以忙且持續思考。
09:11
I provided提供 her with a small camera相機
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我給了她一台小型相機,
09:14
and asked her to take at least最小
10 pictures圖片 a day of anything she wanted.
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要她每天至少拍十張相片,
拍任何她想拍的東西。
09:18
These are Mom's媽媽的 photographs照片.
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這些是媽媽拍的照片。
09:21
She's never held保持 a camera相機
in her life before this.
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在這之前,她從來沒有拿過相機。
09:25
She was 93.
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她九十三歲。
09:53
We would sit down together一起
and talk about our work.
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我們會一起坐下來,
談論我們的作品。
09:57
I would try to explain說明
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我會試著解釋
09:58
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
10:00
how and why I did them,
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我如何/為什麼做這些作品,
10:03
the meaning含義, the feeling感覺,
why they were relevant相應.
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意義是什麼、感覺是什麼、
這些有什麼重要的。
10:07
Mom媽媽, on the other hand,
would just bluntly直言 say,
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另一方面,媽媽只會很直率地說:
10:10
"sì,"
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「是。」
10:12
"no,"
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「不。」
10:13
"bella貝拉" or "bruta布魯塔."
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「美麗」或「畜牲」。
10:15
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
10:17
I watched看著 her facial面部 expressions表達式.
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我看著她的面部表情。
10:21
She always had the last say,
with words or without.
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任何事最後一定由她決定,
不論是不是用言語表達。
10:28
This voyage航程 of discovery發現
hasn't有沒有 ended結束 with Mom媽媽.
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媽媽的這項發現之旅
並沒有到此結束。
10:33
She is now in an assisted輔助
living活的 residence住宅,
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她現在住在一間
輔助生活的療養機構,
10:37
a 10-minute-分鐘 walk步行 away from my home.
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離我家只要走路十分鐘。
10:41
I visit訪問 her every一切 other day.
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我每隔一天就去看她一次。
10:45
Her dementia癡呆 had gotten得到 to the point
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她失智的狀況已經到了
10:47
where it was unsafe不安全 for her
to be in my house.
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住在我家對她來說
並不安全的程度。
10:50
It has a lot of stairs樓梯.
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我家有很多樓梯。
10:54
She doesn't know my name名稱 anymore.
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她也叫不出我的名字了。
10:58
(Voice語音 breaking破壞)
But you know what? That's OK.
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(聲音中斷)但,
你知道嗎?那沒關係。
11:02
She still recognizes識別 my face面對
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她仍然認得我的臉孔,
11:05
and always has a big smile微笑
when she sees看到 me.
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當她看到我時,
總會露出大大的微笑。
11:10
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
11:23
(Applause掌聲 ends結束)
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(掌聲結束)
11:25
I don't take pictures圖片 of her anymore.
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我不再拍她的照片了。
11:28
That wouldn't不會 be fair公平
or ethical合乎道德的 on my part部分.
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我這樣做是不公平或不道德的。
11:32
And she wouldn't不會 understand理解
the reasons原因 for doing them.
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她不會了解做這些事的理由。
11:36
My father父親,
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我爸爸、
11:38
my brother哥哥,
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我兄弟、
11:40
(Voice語音 breaking破壞) my nephew外甥,
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(聲音中斷)我姪子、
11:46
my partner夥伴 and my best最好 friend朋友,
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我的另一半,和我最好的朋友,
11:49
all passed通過 away suddenly突然.
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都突然間就過世了。
11:51
And I didn't have the chance機會
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我沒有機會
11:54
to tell them how much
I appreciated讚賞 and loved喜愛 them.
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告訴他們我有多感謝他們、愛他們。
11:58
With Mom媽媽, I need to be there
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對我媽媽,我得要在她身邊,
12:02
and make it a very long goodbye再見.
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用很長的時間來說再見。
12:09
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
12:20
(Applause掌聲 ends結束)
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(掌聲結束)
12:22
For me, it's about being存在 present當下
and really listening.
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對我來說,重點是
要陪在身邊且能真正傾聽。
12:27
Dependents家屬 want to feel
a part部分 of something, anything.
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受撫養的家屬會想要有
參與某件事,任何事的感覺。
12:30
It doesn't need to be something
exceptionally異常 profound深刻 that's shared共享 --
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與他們分享的不見得要是
特別了不起的事——
12:35
it could be as simple簡單 as walks散步 together一起.
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像是一起散步這麼簡單的事也可以。
12:38
Give them a voice語音
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給他們發言權,
12:41
of interaction相互作用, participation參與,
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讓他們互動、參與,
12:44
and a feeling感覺 of belonging屬於.
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找到歸屬感。
12:48
Make the time meaningful富有意義的.
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讓時間有意義。
12:52
Life, it's about wanting希望 to live生活
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人生,重點是想要活著,
12:56
and not waiting等候 to die.
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而不是等待死亡。
13:01
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
13:11
(Applause掌聲 ends結束)
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(掌聲結束)
13:14
Can I get a wave and a smile微笑
from everyone大家, please?
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能不能請大家對我
揮揮手,微笑一個?
13:18
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
13:20
This is for you, Mom媽媽.
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這是給你的,媽媽。
13:23
(Camera相機 clicks點擊)
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(相機快門聲)
13:25
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Lilian Chiu
Reviewed by Yuchen Lu

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tony Luciani - Artist
Tony Luciani picked up a camera in 2014 to document his aging mom's struggle with dementia, beginning a four-year-long voyage of discovery.

Why you should listen

Tony Luciani picked up a camera in 2014 to document his aging mom's struggle with dementia, and it was the imaginative expression of the collaboration that propelled his work internationally. After more than 40 years as a full-time painter, Luciani garnered worldwide attention with this four-year-long photography series. Their voyage of discovery, expressing the benefits of inclusion and participation within a creative medium, has gone beyond the boundaries of recognizing it as just a personal visual diary.

Luciani graduated from Toronto's Ontario College of Art in 1977 with prestigious honors. At age 21, he was encouraged to continue with his fifth-year post-graduate study in Florence, Italy. It was there that he found maturity while carefully observing the historical paintings of the Renaissance Masters. Upon returning, he was promptly accepted for representation by a well-respected and established Canadian art gallery.

In defining his work, Luciani prefers to be placed in a tradition of realism, which is both interpretive and characterized by focused observation. As a photographer, he likes defining his imagery as an "obvious extension" to what he already creates as an artist.

Luciani's art can be found in private, public and corporate collections globally. An unabridged edition of one-hundred photographs titled "MAMMA, In the Meantime" is in the collection of the local chapter of the Canadian Alzheimer Society. He is represented by Loch Gallery in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary.

More profile about the speaker
Tony Luciani | Speaker | TED.com