Aging And Photography

[M. Valdemar]

i'm far more physically active than my father at the same age (and he died twelve years later...that may have been a large part of the impetus to get back on a bike thirty years ago), and in much better overall health. I'm of the mind that it's the "you're too old for this" stuff that needlessly gets in the way too often.

This could be a serious delusion. I've known people in their 40's who look like Charles Atlas, with the energy of a bull, drop stone cold dead in their tracks without the slightest warning. A lot of them are vegans or health food nuts.

They look very nice in the funeral home though. Well-kept, lean, muscular corpses with nice hairdos.

As a matter of fact, they often look better dead than I do alive. I look like a schlub. Many the times I've been told "he looks better dead than you do alive".

 

[amateriat]

Mick Jagger is too old to rock and roll.

Perhaps.

Now, ask him if he cares. 😀


- Barrett

 

[gb hill]

Your never to old to Rock N Roll.....Barrett you have a hellova good taste in music quoting Warren Zevon & Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. I'll be 49 in Oct. and it don't bother me at all cranking up some Ozzy Osbourne, but then I guess he is too old to rock also.

 

[M. Valdemar]

As a matter of fact, I did ask him that when he was in his late forties.

He said he realized that it was somewhat ludicrous, but he enjoyed the huge income from touring and because of his ego, he wanted to remain a well-known celebrity. He said he would probably continue to perform until death or infirmity overtook him or most of his band.

Perhaps.

Now, ask him if he cares. 😀


- Barrett

 

[M. Valdemar]

Warren Zevon had the decision taken out of his hands.

His parting advice was to "enjoy every sandwich".

 

[gertf]

This could be a serious delusion. I've known people in their 40's who look like Charles Atlas, with the energy of a bull, drop stone cold dead in their tracks without the slightest warning. A lot of them are vegans or health food nuts.

They look very nice in the funeral home though. Well-kept, lean, muscular corpses with nice hairdos.

As a matter of fact, they often look better dead than I do alive. I look like a schlub. Many the times I've been told "he looks better dead than you do alive".

And your point is?

 

[gb hill]

Old Harley riders have a saying.....Ride to Live-Live to Ride! Frank ride the hell out of that bike bro!

 

[hugivza]

It's interesting to read how this thread has progressed through consideration of what seems a curious tension between increasing physical impairment with age, against the increasing ability for self reflection, and the contemplation ultimately of our photographic legacy and death. In a sense it makes a refreshing change from the discussions on gizmos and gadgets, even if I now understand why most practitioners prefer black cameras and lenses. It also reminds me that I need to seriously start to catalogue my collection of photographs and equipment such that they can be appropriately loaded into the U Haul trailer that will follow my hearse - surely I can take it all with me?

 

[gb hill]

When you tell someone to stop doing something they enjoy doing because of age then you may as well be saying to them OK lay down and die now. I think about dying but I have peace about it. My bigger fear is winding up in a rest home or becoming incapacitated where some family member has to come in & wipe my butt. To me this is far worse than dying.

 

[amateriat]

This could be a serious delusion. I've known people in their 40's who look like Charles Atlas, with the energy of a bull, drop stone cold dead in their tracks without the slightest warning. A lot of them are vegans or health food nuts.

They look very nice in the funeral home though. Well-kept, lean, muscular corpses with nice hairdos.

As a matter of fact, they often look better dead than I do alive. I look like a schlub. Many the times I've been told "he looks better dead than you do alive".

Indeed, I've had friends a lot younger than me kick off suddenly. Good health and minimal vices are no guarantee in this life, but they do up your odds. One of my mother's favorite sayings was live fast, die young, and have a beautiful corpse. (She died rather old, and I reckon she preferred it that way, save for the cancer that got her.) I'd say that, given the choice of dying with your boots on (or maybe off...remember Nelson Rockefeller 🙂), and dying a painful, drawn-out, pathetic death, most would opt for the latter (Dad died at 64, on the dance floor of a cruise liner near the Carribean...that's not the worst way to go, by far, but I'm hoping to push that date back by at least a decade or two). As mentioned earlier, I very nearly bought the big casino in a serious car accident at 17, so any illusions I might have harbored about death (and, for that matter, life) were shattered early on. But, rather than make me a morose mugwump, I developed a greater enthusiasm for life in the day-to-day than I had before, and that's largely stuck with me ever since. I'd say I'm a happier person because of it. (Eventually coming out in one piece helped.)

None of us know what will happen, or how, or when. But I pour another glass, load another roll of film, get into the saddle, and push off. Or, to quote a lint from a favorite song of my childhood, "Tell It Like It Is" (which, in a way, also makes your point):

Life is too short to have sorrow
You may be here today and gone tomorrow
You might as well get what you want
So go on and live, baby, go on and live


- Barrett

 

[gertf]

This could be a serious delusion. I've known people in their 40's who look like Charles Atlas, with the energy of a bull, drop stone cold dead in their tracks without the slightest warning. A lot of them are vegans or health food nuts.

This is the kind of mindless drivel that springs from those who lead an unhealthy lifestyle and defend it by bringing up examples of young healthy individuals who have passed seemingly with no warning.

Had your friend had an ECG they may have picked up a heart condition - such as Long QT syndrome - which can cause sudden death. Just one example, as there are all sorts of disorders that can explain 'mysteriously dropping dead', without having to resort to the 'a healthy lifestyle confers no lifespan advantage' argument.

Show me the evidence. Where is the evidence that suggests that healthy people do not live longer than unhealthy people. I can show you plenty of evidence to the contrary - that obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, combined with other vices such as alcohol, tobacco, recreational drugs, contributes a great deal to morbidity and mortality in our population. Where is the evidence of the contrary?

Only a few weeks ago I went to a lecture by an obese person to medical students on how to approach the obese patient. She was under the delusion that obesity has no health impact on her at all, and that the resently disproven 'fat-but-fit' theory was valid. All doctors should seemingly not encourage their patients to lose weight because this does not help their health problems.

Are you kidding me?

 

[amateriat]

Nearly forgot: In a 24-hour stretch, we lost both Yves Saint-Laurent and Bo Diddley. YSL pretty much called it quits in his business quite a while ago, while Bo kept at it till the end.

Saint-Laurent was 71 when he died. Diddley was 79.


- Barrett

 

[M. Valdemar]

90% of it is genetic.

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2007/05/that-time-health-food-guru-went-on-tv.html

Most people die immediately after extensive medical tests. When a doctor gives you a clean bill of health, contact a lawyer quickly to make out your will.

96.87% of morbidly obese people live to be at least 94 years old. The ones that smoke cigarettes and drink at least a half bottle of whiskey per day can tack another 4 years onto that.

Obviously, you have not read medical journals.

This is the kind of mindless drivel that springs from those who lead an unhealthy lifestyle and defend it by bringing up examples of young healthy individuals who have passed seemingly with no warning.

Had your friend had an ECG they may have picked up a heart condition - such as Long QT syndrome - which can cause sudden death. Just one example, as there are all sorts of disorders that can explain 'mysteriously dropping dead', without having to resort to the 'a healthy lifestyle confers no lifespan advantage' argument.

Show me the evidence. Where is the evidence that suggests that healthy people do not live longer than unhealthy people. I can show you plenty of evidence to the contrary - that obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, combined with other vices such as alcohol, tobacco, recreational drugs, contributes a great deal to morbidity and mortality in our population. Where is the evidence of the contrary?

Only a few weeks ago I went to a lecture by an obese person to medical students on how to approach the obese patient. She was under the delusion that obesity has no health impact on her at all, and that the resently disproven 'fat-but-fit' theory was valid. All doctors should seemingly not encourage their patients to lose weight because this does not help their health problems.

Are you kidding me?

 

[M. Valdemar]

"We" didn't lose anybody.

Both of them lost themselves, but they no longer have to be concerned about it.

Nearly forgot: In a 24-hour stretch, we lost both Yves Saint-Laurent and Bo Diddley. YSL pretty much called it quits in his business quite a while ago, while Bo kept at it till the end.

Saint-Laurent was 71 when he died. Diddley was 79.


- Barrett

 

[ruben]

I am a strong believer in that one's state of mind plays a great role in one's longevity.

And I do believe as well that our interaction with photography could have a great impact on our state of mind.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[David William White]

"We" didn't lose anybody.

They both have left treasures behind.

Why do we shoot? We shoot to capture something forever; often something that strikes us as interesting. Occasionally, something universal that illuminates an existential truth. May only be a small truth, but a truth nonetheless.

And sometimes the perspective or sense of life of the photographer is precious and evident, like the poet. This, of course, takes a lifetime. Which is where we are.

 

[amateriat]

They both have left treasures behind.

Why do we shoot? We shoot to capture something forever; often something that strikes us as interesting. Occasionally, something universal that illuminates an existential truth. May only be a small truth, but a truth nonetheless.

And sometimes the perspective or sense of life of the photographer is precious and evident, like the poet. This, of course, takes a lifetime. Which is where we are.

That's kinda-sorta what I was getting at when invoking "we." Not necessarily assuming everyone on the planet at this moment cared about these two, but a lot of people did.


- Barrett

 

[ampguy]

I believe in Oscar and the power of cats

I believe in Oscar and the power of cats

I believe the better one takes care of their cat, and the more one photographs their cat, or the cat in their residence, and the more one posts their cats images on web sites, the longer one is going to live.

Below is Oscar. Oscar can predict when death is coming, and it is possible that all cats have this perception.

link from NEJM:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/4/328

 

[David William White]

Not so fast!

Oscar (aka Morris, aka Cuddles, aka Mr. Tinkles) is a wanted feline. According to the ASPCA, Oscar is the named and sole beneficiary of over 25 life insurance policies of recent residents of the Steere House Nursing Center. Current whearabouts unknown, although reports of sightings in Las Vegas are currently under investigation. Oscar is also a known bigamist, fathering dozens of kittens with several different wives over a ten year period.

 

[JeffGreene]

I am a strong believer in that one's state of mind plays a great role in one's longevity......

I turned 60 this year and am always amazed when looking in the mirror. Who is that guy! I was diagnosed with a chronic disease at 58 and remember my doctor telling me of a famous medical educator (Osler) at the turn of the 20th century who claimed that a chronic disease leads to longevity. I forget the particulars, but patients in this situation begin a regimen of exercise, diet and medication that is beneficial and leads to longevity. All I know is that life is better in many ways now. Grandchildren are a joy. I gave my granddaughter my Nikon FE a few years ago and have really enjoyed sharing my passion for making pictures with her. So yes, although I'm a bit slower and more cautious now in certain situations, I really am enjoying life much more than I did when I was in my twenties and thirties. And after all, it definitely is much more pleasant to be on this side of the grass than the alternative! 😀