Alejandro Kirchuk 2011 Highly Commended

Never Let You Go

‘Never Let You Go’ is a long-term project about Old Age in one of its conditions, the Alzheimer’s disease.

The project is focused on the story of an elderly couple, Marcos and Monica. For 64 years, they have been married and living in their apartment in Buenos Aires-Argentina, which is their small world. She, 87 years old, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 4 years ago. He’s 89, and since the moment of the diagnosis, devotes all of his time to take care of her.

In Argentina, more than half of Alzheimer’s patients’ families get in charge of the ill rather than sending them to Retirement Homes. The relatives who look after them usually get stressed and may, eventually, be affected physically and morally.

His life has changed completely since the moment of her diagnosis, and her illness has meant for him a new reason to live.

Alzheimer’s disease is considered as a possible future epidemic because it mainly affects older people, and as life expectancy is annually increasing in global population, the disease will become increasingly common.