Improving Visual representationS of senior living

This work is part of my ongoing project Reimaging Aging, which disrupts popular media depictions of aging by engaging older adults in the creation and dissemination of their own stock photos of aging.

More than ever, images are a crucial communication currency. Many organizations serving older adults lack the means to produce high-quality imagery, which means they must rely on stock photography to represent their work. Unfortunately, stock images of older adults and senior living – generic at best, condescending at worst – do not often convey the appropriate message for these organizations. And because we process images 60,000 times faster than text those stock photos leave a strong impression.

As Designer-in-Residence at EngAGE – a nonprofit that transforms low- and moderate-income senior apartment communities into vibrant centers of learning, wellness, and creativity – I conceived and implemented a project that asked senior apartment residents to create their own commercial photography of aging and senior living. Through a series of participatory workshops, participants reviewed existing stock representations, and then crafted alternative versions that they feel better represent their experiences of aging and senior living.

The research process uncovered values and motivations for aging well, and identified opportunities for EngAGE to improve programming for older adults, which were synthesized in a final report. The participant-created photos were shared through a public exhibition in downtown Los Angeles, and made available on stock image sites online.

Participatory Design Studios: Analyzing Stock Photos + Crafting Alternative Versions

Analysis of Existing Stock Photo

Participant-Created Photos

Participants felt strongly that most existing stock images "seemed like assisted living" and did not represent the full spectrum of growing older. With these images, participants wanted to portray active, independent, self-sufficient aging.

Participants noted that in existing stock photos featuring a solitary senior there was an overwhelming feeling of sadness, prompting the viewer to feel pity for the senior. In this image, participants wanted to depict a senior who was alone and content.

Existing stock images featuring multiple older adults predominantly depict romantic partnership. Participants wanted to portray other forms of companionship that are central to their experiences of senior life. Several participants play cards, and used this scenario to express a light-hearted rapport among older adult companions.

This project was done in collaboration with residents of Buckingham Place Apartments in South Los Angeles: Willie Ansley, Laurene Bishop, Violet Chapman, Bettie Davis, Charles Hall, Ernestine Hughes, Annie McCullough, Henry McDaniel, Marie Molless, Eleanor Porter, Stanford Robinson, Helen Smiley, and Dorothy Wheat; Nathanial Hall, Regional Programs Director for EngAGE; photographer Patrick Kim; exhibition designer Tom Kracauer; and, The Music Center.

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