Frederika, better known as Mamika (Hungarian for "my little grandmother") had retired in the late 80’s, but as the years went by found herself feeling lonely and depressed. In an effort to lift her spirits, Sacha, who is also her caregiver, came up with a brilliant idea: an outrageous photo-shoot with Frederika posing in colourful superhero costumes in less that superhero like situations.
The idea of a superhero really wasn’t too far a stretch. Frederika was born in Budapest and during World War II risked her own life to save the lives of ten others. Later, under threat of death by the Communist regime, she was forced to immigrate to France. As Sacha put it, "The pictures gave her something to do again and helped give her more self-confidence again. It's a love story. Before I made the pictures, I wanted everyone to know her – she’s incredible."
The best parts of the photographs are the geriatric gaffes. It’s aging with a wicked humour and is a great reminder of the things we often forget, literally and metaphorically, as we are faced with our own aging family members. One photo features a beautifully coiffed Federika attempting to smoke up a Cuban...umm, banana. Another of Federika dressed up to the nines with luminescent orange air-freshener trees as earrings. Others are of the superhero Mamika, including being dragged behind a petite Chihuahua out for a walk. The point that this feisty little Mamika and grandson are making is that growing older, and more forgetful, doesn’t mean you lose who you are or is something to be hidden away and ashamed of. Celebrate it, find the happiness, find the humor.
Sacha found a creative way to care for his grandmother while immortalizing her character and dispelling the stereotypical images of age. He even got her on the internet where she responds to messages on her MySpace page and posts updated pictures.
So where do your superhero grandparents go when they grow old?
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