Hospice portraits immortalize joy


		Nancy Medwell photos
	Laurel, a wife, mother and grandmother relished the time she spent with her close-knit family. These photos were taken after she had been in hospice care for more than six months. Seattle photographer Nancy Medwell, who used to be a hospice volunteer, saw "a beautiful evolution of life."

They could have simply thrown a dinner or an auction or a party to celebrate their 30th anniversary, but Providence Hospice of Seattle decided to take pictures.

Captured in 45 black-and-white images are patients, most in their last days of life, surrounded by their loved ones and hospice caregivers.

"Portraits of Healing: Celebrating the Gift of Hospice," will be unveiled Monday night, then spends a year as a traveling exhibit at places as diverse and unlikely as Bellevue Square, Sea-Tac Airport, the Washington Mutual Tower and Seattle City Hall.

All the more poignant is the fact that eight of the 10 patients photographed have since passed away. Their anonymity was preserved, with only a first name or an initial used to identify them.

There is the photo of a teenage mother with her sons, ages 2 and 8 months. The infant, R, who was in hospice care for nearly his entire life, died in June at the age of 9 months.

Or, G, a Russian woman who doesn't speak English, but has formed a bond with her hospice nurse, Beverly, on visits every Friday for three years.


	Nancy Medwell
Eight-month-old "R," at left, was in hospice care for nearly his entire life before dying in June at the age of 9 months. He's seen with his mom and brother.

Their images were captured by local photographer Nancy Medwell, who specializes in black-and-white portraits (http://www.nancymedwell.com ).

Medwell, who used to be a hospice volunteer, said she sees no difference between the portraits of families and babies that she takes for her regular clients and the ones of dying hospice patients.

"It's no different. It's this beautiful evolution of life and honoring of us at all stages of our life," she said.

The photos are intimate and generally uplifting, perhaps dispelling some of the negative images many associate with dying. Medwell says: "It's about our emotional connections with people at all stages of our lives -- accepting and embracing the love that we exchange every day."

Medwell says the photos weren't posed or staged, but capture the natural interaction between subject and photographer.

She was drawn to end-of-life photography by experiences, her own near-death illness a few years ago. Photographs are the last thing most people are thinking about at this time, yet they often treasure them enormously, Medwell said.


		Nancy Medwell
	After caring for her husband of 20 years on her own for a year, Ruthie had to put Homer in a nursing home.

Providence Hospice of Seattle, founded in 1975, is the second-oldest hospice in the nation and the largest hospice provider in the Northwest. In its 30 years, the non-profit has cared for more than 10,000 patients as they die, throughout King County.

Demand has been growing for their palliative approach to end-of-life care, especially in the past five years. In 2000, 1,095 patients used Providence services, according to Lyn Miletich, director of community relations. Last year, the number had risen to 1,822, with a projection of 2,000 patients this year.

There's no brick-and-mortar hospice building; instead services are delivered to patients wherever they reside.

Providence board member Sue Ellen Katz said the photos, and accompanying text, are meant to help educate people about hospice.

"End-of-life services are just something we don't want to pay attention to unless it's staring at us in the face, and then, sometimes, it's too late," said Katz. "We're much more open to hearing about it before it's needed."

Katz acknowledges that the dying process isn't always so photogenic or positive. Other photos of hospice patients have shown a grittier, more three-dimensional view of death. And plenty of people are in pain or emotional anguish or angry as they die.

"Some want to go out fighting and kicking and screaming," she said. "There's no right way to die."

Katz says that many who come to hospice do so in the last week or so, when their care becomes critical. She hopes that this traveling exhibit will help people to consider hospice earlier so they can enjoy quality care for longer.

"Hospice, in my opinion, is really more about living than it is about dying."

GO SEE IT

"Portraits of Healing: Celebrating the Gift of Hospice," has a public reception tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Columbia Tower Club, 701 Fifth Ave. To register, call 206-320-7188. For the rest of November, it will be at Providence Hospice of Seattle's administrative office, 425 Pontius Ave. N., followed by the Seattle Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., in December. For a complete exhibit schedule through December 2006, see www.providence.org/hospiceofseattle and click "portraits of healing."

P-I reporter Kristin Dizon can be reached at 206-448-8118 or kristindizon@seattlepi.com.

Add P-I Lifestyle headlines to