Freya Najade – If you are lucky you get old

“‘If you are lucky, you get old’, this was one of the first things the elderly taught me when I set off to find out more about them. In the project If you are lucky, you get old I tell stories of senior citizens I have met and spent time with. To my surprise, the old people were not just proud of their age and the fact that they made it that far in life, they were also still falling in love and breaking up. They were overcoming their lifetime partner’s death, living out their erotic fantasies or dealing with the loss of their sexual desire. Talking to them showed me that inner growth is ever lasting, and that humans even above the age of seventy continue to love, suffer, long, dream and have sexual feelings.

I have started  If you are lucky you get old a little while back spending time with senior citizens in retirement communities and senior centers in the U.S. Since I feel old age is such an important topic, I would like to continue the project this year. Up to this point I have told stories of five seniors, but I am hoping that with your help and generosity I will be able to tell a broader range of stories about different realities of senior citizens. The ultimate intention is to create a book with diverse stories about the complexity of old age.”

Desert Tree

Dennis in his Room – “I have my own house, where I live half of the year. Sometimes I don’t talk for a week to anybody there. In the summer I rent a room in a gay retirement home. I enjoy meeting people of my kind.”

Wall Decoration

Dennis dressed up – “I feel that I am transforming from a catapillar into a butterfly. Sometimes I go out like this. If people don’t like it, it is their problem.”

Squirrel

Thelma in her Living Room – “I got married for the first time when I was 15 years old. After my first husband I had two other and five children. I thought life was just about raising kids and being a mother.”

Thelma’s Vase – “I fell in love for the first time four years ago. With Swede I had my teenage years, which I never had. He has the prettiest blue eyes. When he walks through my door, my whole body just warms up. This is a beautiful feeling, but when he is not there it is a terrible feeling. I had my first orgasm with him.”

Rae – “I loved my girlfriend very much. We were true soul mates. I am very proud that I was with her for 43 years.”

Rae and Rabbie – “The first evening I met Rabbie, I got up to make a drink and I asked her: ‘Can I make one for you too?’ And she said: ‘No, but you can come over and kiss me.’ And damn it, if I didn’t!”

Tree and Water

You can see the whole project on Freya Najade’s website. The project has been very well received with publications in The Times and The British Journal of Photography, amongst others. The Times wrote: If you are lucky you get old is “funny, touching, and provoking”. The project has also been shown nationally and internationally, for example you can see here an exhibition in London.

It is upon you if the continuation of this project is going to happen! You decide how long I can stay and how many different stories I will be able to tell. If you believe old age is an important topic and would like to see more stories please help to fund this project! The production time will be around two months plus the research time and postproduction to edit the book. With your help I will be able to cover a part of this cost. By funding bits of my project, you are not just helping me, but you get also the chance to be part of it. I will keep you updated about the shooting process and will introduce you to a new character first hand by sending you a postcard with his/her image. More details on www.kickstarter.com