Meet Elva Alexander, 100 years young, from Pittsburgh, PA.
She came from a well-to-do family, had a beautiful home and used to raise championship dogs back in the day.
I met Elva after she just moved into a retirement/nursing home.
She still had some of her elegant furnishing from her home, but was not allowed to bring her beloved collies with her, which she was quite unhappy about.
Her other prized possession was a painting that her husband commissioned back in the 1950’s; to paint her portrait with one of her dogs.
All I had with me was my “vacation point and shoot” camera, but I really wanted to capture a portrait of Elva and the story of her life.
She was feisty and didn’t want to be photographed, kept saying she was “too old” and that I should just “take a picture of her painting”.
I finally got her to stand still long enough for me to create this portrait – her life then and now.
I loved how she created her own space by keeping things she loved, yet noticing the collision of her past with the present,
like her “dreadful” walker next to her “lovely” antique tea and coffee service set in the corner.
By the way, this is a lady who LOVES to lunch, so if you ever get the chance to visit St. Barnabas in Pittsburgh, PA let me know and I’ll hook you up. You won’t regret it. She is a HOOT!
