REFLECTIONS: What a WWII Veteran Taught Me About Time and Identity
My “Reflections” campaign is based on a portfolio image I made illustrating this thought. The idea hit me as I was talking with a WWII veteran named Gardner. He was about to celebrate his 80th birthday. He didn’t understand how he could be 80 years old as he said he felt like he had just returned home from the war.
Based on that conversation, I built a bathroom set in my studio and photographed Gardner staring into his bathroom mirror and seeing himself as a 25-year-old. Some years later an ad agency in New York saw the image of Gardner in a self-promotion I sent and thought it was perfect for an ad concept. I was awarded a job to create images similar to the one of Gardner to be used in promoting a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The images have won numerous awards and continue to create emotional responses from people all over the world.