About Side by Side
Side by Side is a multimedia film project that showcases gold standard dementia care. The films and photography highlight selected aged care communities around the world that are choosing to approach dementia care in a forward-thinking and inspirational way that empowers people living with dementia to continue to actively participate in life.
Cathy Greenblat has been photographing dementia care around the world since 2000 and her books Alive with Alzheimer’s (2004) and Love, Loss and Laughter (2012) both feature photos from many of the communities she has visited. Her photographs have been exhibited in galleries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East including the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the US National Academy of Sciences.
Cathy says, “The vision for Side by Side is to create a multimedia resource for individuals and organisations to learn about better practice person-centered dementia care.”
Corinne had been making films since 2003 on many subjects but in 2013 she was inspired by her grandmother’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s to make a film honouring her. The opening of Cathy’s exhibit in Melbourne seemed an interesting subject. She filmed the opening night, then spent many hours with Cathy discussing the individual images. After seeing Cathy’s delight in their discussions and the enthusiasm of the viewers in the resulting film, Corinne was inspired to continue working in this domain. Their collaboration began a few months later. Since 2013 while doing the four other Side by Side films with Cathy, Corinne has produced over forty short films and educational videos about dementia with more currently in production.
“The beautiful thing about this series of films is that the creative process has been very organic,” says Corinne. “There are no scripts, no marketing departments, no one telling us what messages to push. We're free to capture and present everything just as we see it, which makes it very authentic. These are real stories about real people.”
The first four films in the series have enjoyed considerable success and have been used by universities, government departments and care providers around the world.
Both Corinne and Cathy are available to present the films and photographs at conferences, training sessions, fundraising programs and other screenings and exhibitions. We'd love to hear from you. Please get in touch via the contact page.