Those two ladys are sisters .. 85 & 95 years old .. The left one is the younger one talking to her older sister who is currently living in an old "nursing home" in Croatia. The first time I got there I was in shock for the next couple of days .. The "nursing home" is more like a "lunetic home" for people who are mentaly ill and are left there to die. The conditions are very sad and bad.
The 95 year old lady was living in New York & Sidney before that lunetic home, where their sons lived and are still living. Her wish was to go back home to Croatia, and she endet up here in that lunetic house because there was nobody who can care for her. Their sons doesn't want to know anything about her, neighter they know where she is now. The very sad thing is that she, with her 95 years of age is very clear in her head and experience this very sad lonely end of her life ..
Her sister tried to put her in an home for old people where she can get proper care, but since the prices in Croatia are very high she can't afford that.
I talked to some people who are mentaly more or less normal in that lunetic house, and their storys are really heartbroken because there are also people that are not that old (some are 30+). Some of that people are left behind, some do have only themselfes in this world and can't take care of themselfes and some are abandoned from their families because they are "different" ..
In some cases I could'nt shoot with my camera, because I just stood there looking at their sad, lonely faces .. The camera is sometimes like a wall, where you think you feel protected and think you can do anything, but in this case it really kicked my ass ..
All those families outthere, spent a lot of quality time with your loved ones because you never know when you can end up like those people I met there in Croatia ..
Copyright Petar Kürschner jr.
http://www.lightstalkers.org/petar
http://www.artistrising.com/galleries/Petar_Kuerschner
