First Day of Spring, New Hampshire

The act of making photographs opened a new kind of dialogue between Virginia Beahan and her mother, who suffered from dementia and could no longer care for herself:

My mother responded to being photographed—she liked the attention. A natural flirt, that side of her nature came out in the pictures—like a teenager preening for a date. There was something about the self she became in front of the camera that revealed more than a failing old woman, and the act of photographing became a special transaction between us. I felt an unexpected appreciation for the intimacy of the exchange. We had made a kind of peace.

Close to Home: Photographers and their Families, 2011