LIFE BEFORE DEATH A photographic exhibition on dying

Photography: Walter Schels Text: Beate Lakotta

LIFE BEFORE DEATH -

A PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION ON LEAVING THIS WORLD

Few subjects affect us as profoundly as an encounter with death. Occurring at one remove from our everyday experiences and family life, death and dying have become taboo topics in our society. The photographer Walter Schels and the journalist Beate Lakotta asked terminally ill patients if they might remain with them during the final weeks, days and hours of their lives. From these vigils emerged a collection of sensitive and illuminating portraits of people as their lives drew to a close. LIFE BEFORE DEATH comprises a series of large format, black and white photographs taken shortly before and immediately after the death of each subject. The exhibition articulates the experiences, hopes and fears of the terminally ill and gives them a final opportunity to be heard. Of the 24 people portrayed, the majority spent their last days in hospices – places designed to accommodate the dying, where they are able to experience the final phase of their life with as much awareness and freedom from pain as it is possible to achieve. All those who come to such places realise they will never return home. They know that it is time to settle their personal affairs and take leave of their loved ones. Only a short time remains in which to assess the life they have led, make peace with themselves and others; and to face up to death and the question of what will come afterwards. Walter Schels and Beate Lakotta spent over a year working on this project in the charged atmosphere which pervades hospices, where life is pared down to the essentials. The exhibition opened at the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum in Dresden, attracting over 50,000 visitors in six weeks.

INFO

The photographs are framed, not under glass. Each pair of photographs is accompanied by a narrative text giving brief details of the person portrayed (approximately 1000 characters). Three panels of text provide information on palliative care and the hospice movement. 24 diptychs 2 triptychs total: 54 photographs (b/w Lambda-Prints) dimensions: 100x100 cm hanging space: approximately 150 m required

THE PHOTOGRAPHER Walter Schels born in 1936 in Landshut, Bavaria, is a highly versatile artist. He started out as a window dresser (working in Geneva, Barcelona and Canada) before discovering a love of photography which took him to New York in 1966, where he became a photographer. He returned to Germany in 1970 and worked successfully for illustrated and fashion magazines, and in advertising. From 1975, Schels spent several years capturing the moment of birth in a series of photo-reportages for the parents’ magazine Eltern. The process of photographing children only a few seconds old led him to develop a growing fascination with faces. Schels soon became known for his portraits of artists, politicians and other prominent figures in cultural and intellectual circles. For many years he has brought the same intensity to his portraits of animals. - member of the Free Academy of Arts in Hamburg - honorary member of the Alliance of Freelance Photo Designers - Hasselblad Master of the Year 2005 Previous Exhibitions in Germany and Abroad

1975 Brussels Galerie Waterloo "New York, New York" 1976 Milan Galleria Il Diaframma "Surreale Fotografie" 1980 Zurich Kunsthaus "Masks" 1981 Zurich Nikon-Galerie "Reportage and Portraits" 1981 Amsterdam Nikon-Galerie "Chez Coiffeur" 1984 Munich Stadtmuseum "Munich’ 84" 1985 Hamburg PPS-Galerie "New Borns" 1985 Munich Galerie der Künste "Animal Portraits" 1991 Munich Praterinsel "Exit" 1993 Herten Internationale Fototage "Of People, Animals and Hands" 1994 Helsinki Laterna Magica "Artists and Animals" 1994 Hamburg Kampnagel "Faces of Hamburg”

(The Blind) 1995 Frankfurt Fotografie Forum "Walter Schels. Portrait Photography" 1995 Braunschweig Museum für Photographie "The Open Secret. Faces of the Old

and New Born" 1996 Berlin Galerie Stühler "Beuys and Warhol. Photography,

Collage and Overpainting" 1997 Dresden Deutsches Hygienemuseum "Young And Old" 1998 Munich Agfa-Haus "Reflexions. Collected Works” 1999 Hamburg Altonaer Museum "Beuys and Warhol. Portraits" 2000 Berne Kunstkeller "The Open Secret" 2002 Hamburg 2. Triennale der Photographie

Freie Akademie der Künste "Second Sight"

2003 Washington Ewing Gallery "Creatures" 2004 Hangzhou Art Museum "Couples" 2004 Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts "German Photographers" 2004 Cologne Photokina "Lifetime" 2004 Dresden Deutsches Hygienemuseum "Life Before Death" 2007 Cologne Galerie Brigitte Schenk "Photographies" 2007 Stuttgart Haus der Wirtschaft "Life"

Books by Walter Schels

"In A Dream, I Saw Myself In Shadow" Tauros-Verlag, Munich 1978 "Journey To the Rainbow. Circus Roncalli" Mahnert-Lueg-Verlag, Munich 1981 "Of People, Animals and Hands" Schwanenburg, Kleve 1993 "The Open Secret" Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1995 "Portraits of Musicians" (Text: Joachim Kaiser) Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1997 "The Soul of Animals" Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 2000 "Animal Portraits" Edition Stemmle, Zurich/New York 2001 "Life Before Death. Encounters With The Terminally Ill" DVA, Munich 2004 THE AUTHOR Beate Lakotta was born in Kassel in 1965. She studied German literature and political science in Heidelberg. Since 1999 she has been on the editorial staff of the science section of SPIEGEL magazine, contributing feature articles which cover diverse aspects of medicine and psychology.

- nominated for the Egon-Erwin-Kisch-Prize 2002 - winner of Deutscher Sozialpreis 2004 (an award for excellence in reporting on social issues) - “Journalist of the Year, science issues, 2006” - European Journalist Prize 2007 (for reporting on science issues) AWARDS FOR "LIFE BEFORE DEATH"

For their joint feature article “Life Before Death”, published in DER SPIEGEL in 2003, Walter Schels and Beate Lakotta were awarded the distinguished Hansel-Mieth-Prize for committed reporting and the Federal Consortium of Hospices’ Honorary Artist’s Prize. Walter Schels was awarded second prize at the World Press Photo 2004 competition for his portraits, as well as receiving the Lead Award 2003, and a gold medal from the Art Directors Club. The book "Life Before Death. Encounters With The Terminally Ill”, published by the Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (dva), was awarded the German Photographic Book Prize 2004.

Edelgard Clavey age: 67 born: 29th June 1936 first portrait taken: 5th December 2003 died: 4th January 2004, at Helenenstift Hospice, Hamburg Edelgard Clavey was an administrative assistant in the university’s psychiatric clinic. She has lived on her own since her divorce in the early eighties. She doesn’t have any children. From her teens she has been an active member of the Protestant church. For the past few weeks she has been bed-bound. "Death is a test of one’s maturity. Everyone has to get through it on their own", says Frau Clavey. "I want so very much to die. I want to become part of that vast extraordinary light. But dying is hard work. Death is in control of the process, I cannot influence its course. All I can do is wait. I was given my life, I had to live it, and now I am giving it back. I’ve always worked hard, following a similar path to a nun: poverty, chastity, obedience. Now, I am no longer able to contribute anything to society and this pains me terribly. I do not want to be a financial drain on resources, yet another living corpse that is only a burden. I want to go, preferably immediately. Always be prepared, just like the boy scouts."

Michael Föge age: 50 born: 15th June 1952 first portrait taken: 8th January 2003 died: 12th February 2003, at Ricam Hospice, Berlin Michael Föge, tall, athletic and eloquent, was appointed as Berlin’s first Commissioner of Cyclists. He was happy. A hundred guests attended his fiftieth birthday celebration. Soon after, he couldn’t remember his words when he was making a speech. The doctors discovered a brain tumour. Within a matter of months the tumour had destroyed his speech centre, paralysed his right arm and the right side of his face. In the hospice, day by day Föge is becoming more sleepy. One day he won’t wake up. Whilst Michael Föge retained the power of speech, he never talked about his feelings or his inner life. Now he is no longer able to do so. "I wonder what is going on inside his head," his wife asks herself. It was the music therapist who came up with the idea of arm squeezing. She took Föge’s healthy hand and tested her strength against his – a dialogue without words. "I could feel his vitality. We had fun."

Maria Hai-Anh Tuyet Cao age: 52 born: 26th August 1951 first portrait taken: 5th December 2003 died: 15th February 2004, at Hamburg Leuchtfeuer Hospice Maria Hai-Anh Tuyet Cao’s experience of dying would doubtless have been very different, had she not absorbed the teachings of the Supreme Mistress Ching Hai. The Mistress says: "All that is beyond this world is better than our world. It is better than anything we can or cannot imagine." Mrs Cao wears the portrait of the Mistress round her neck. Under her guidance, she has already visited the afterlife in meditation. Her call to the next world cannot be far off: her pulmonary alveoli are failing. Yet she appears serene and cheerful. "Death is nothing", says Mrs Cao. "I embrace death. It is not eternal. Afterwards, when we meet God, we become beautiful. We are only called back to earth if we are still attached to another human being in the final seconds." Hai-Anh Cao prepares for this moment every day. She wants to achieve a sense of total detachment at the moment of death.

Heiner Schmitz age: 52 born: 26th November 1951 first portrait taken: 19th November 2003 died: 14th December 2003, at Hamburg Leuchtfeuer Hospice Heiner Schmitz saw the affected area on the MRI scan of his brain. He realised immediately that he didn’t have much time left. Schmitz is a fast talker, highly articulate, quick-witted, but not without depth. He works in advertising. Everyone has to be on top form, on the ball. Normally. Heiner’s friends don’t want him to be sad. They try to take his mind off things. At the hospice, they watch football with him just like they used to do. Beers, cigarettes, a bit of a party in the room. The girls from the agency bring him flowers. Many of them come in twos, because they don’t want to be alone with him. What do you talk about with someone who’s been sentenced to death? Some of them even say ‘get well soon’ as they’re leaving. ‘Hope you’re soon back on track, mate!’ "No one asks me how I feel", says Heiner Schmitz. "Because they’re all shit scared. I find it really upsetting the way they desperately avoid the subject, talking about all sorts of other things. Don’t they get it? I’m going to die! That’s all I think about, every second when I’m on my own."

Elmira Sang Bastian age: 17 months born: 18th October 2002 first portrait taken: 14th January 2004 died: 23rd March 2004, at her parent’s home The tumour was probably already present when Elmira was born. Now it takes up almost the entire brain. "We cannot save your daughter", the doctor told Elmira’s mother. Elmira has a twin sister. She is healthy. Their mother, Fatemeh Hakami, refuses to give up hope: how can God have blessed her with two children, only to take one of them away from her now? Surely God is the only one who decides whether we still breathe or not? She prays: "Dear God, now it is in your hands. If it be your will, let a miracle happen. Or is it selfish of me to want to keep my daughter? Was it your plan that she wouldn’t remain with us for long? Some say you have sent me a trial which I must overcome. But what kind of trial? I have tried to be good. I read the Koran every day; I look for answers. No one can give them to me." One sunny day, Elmira stops breathing. Her mother takes a small white dress from the cupboard, Elmira’s shroud. Then her parents read the Ya Sin - the 36th chapter of the Koran which describes the resurrection of the dead. This is what Muslims do.

Gerda Strech age: 68 born: 7th February 1934 first portrait taken: 5th January 2003 died: 13th January 2003, at Ricam Hospice, Berlin Gerda Strech can scarcely believe it: the cancer is cheating her of her hard-earned retirement. "My whole life was nothing but work, work, work." She was employed on the assembly line in a soap factory, and brought up her children single-handedly. "Does it really have to happen now? Can’t death wait?" She sobs. "I’m just so frightened. I don’t even know whether I’ll be going to heaven or to hell." Once the illness took hold, she went to church to pray. "Maybe God will be able to help me," was how she expressed her hope. What followed was incessant vomiting. And an intestinal obstruction. "It won’t be long now", Frau Strech realizes, panic-stricken. Her daughter tries to console her: "Mummy, we’ll all be together again one day." "That’s impossible. Either you’re eaten by worms or burned to ashes." "But what about your soul?" "Oh, don’t talk to me about souls", cries Gerda Strech in an accusing tone. "Where is God now?"