PhotoBlog - multimedia

Jun

2012

6:11pm, EDT

Learning about life by documenting a parent's death

Maggie Steber / via MediaStorm

Madje Steber sleeps.

Two photographers, Phillip Toledano and Maggie Steber, are sharing deeply personal stories with the public this week – their own documentation of the decline and death of their aging parents. Initially, the images they captured were for themselves. But in the end, both chose to share these bodies of work – exploring universal themes of love, life and family – through two videos, produced in partnership with MediaStorm.

From MediaStorm about "Rite of Passage":

When Madje’s dementia proved relentless, her daughter, photographer Maggie Steber, moved her life to care for her. In the darkness, Maggie documented the beauty of a liberation from the roles she and her mother had learned to play—a discovery she felt gave her the mother she always wanted.

“This body of work is the most important one I have ever done,” says Maggie, “and will ever do. It’s Madje’s story, but really and truly, it’s my story.”

From MediaStorm, about "A Shadow Remains":

Phillip Toledano is an artist. His life has been marked by the passing of family. Each death diverting the river slightly. "A Shadow Remains" brings us through Toledano’s life as he considers the impact that love and loss have had on his life and the life of his family.

“I’m so clearly conscious of everything that they gave me now,” says Phillip. “Now that they’re gone their shadow remains and I see what a strong and lengthy shadow that is.”

Phillip Toledano / via MediaStorm

Phillip Toledano's dad Edward Toledano.

With these productions, MediaStorm debuts a new business model – pay per story. Like other publications who have "pay walls" or online subscriptions, they are exploring new ways to help pay for reporting, producing and publishing costs.

If you click on the embedded videos above, you’ll see a trailer of the stories. If you choose to pay the one-time cost of $1.99 for each story, a link will take you to the MediaStorm website for the transaction. After paying the story can be viewed on multiple devices or computers.