Three stories of overcoming and effort, protagonists of the V edition of ‘The patient’s gaze’

by time news

advertorial

Updated:

Save

‘Ariadna, la Piel de Pez’, photography by Gala Espín, ‘Pancho Winner!’, by Lidia Navarro, and ‘Children’s Game’, a snapshot by Santiago Sánchez, have been the three winning images in the fifth edition of the Photographic Contest ‘The patient’s gaze’ (link to lamiradadelpaciente.cinfa.com), a charitable initiative by Cinfa that seeks to make visible the reality of patients with chronic or long-term illnesses.

In this edition, the protagonists of the images, selected from more than 700 photographs, face diseases such as harlequin ichthyosis, leukemia or Alzheimer’s, and constitute a clear example of overcoming and effort in the face of adversity.

The solidarity contest, which was born with the aim of supporting Spanish patient associations, also recognizes three entities chosen by the authors of the winning photos with an economic endowment.

In this way, the 3,500 euros of the first prize have gone to the Spanish Ichthyosis Association (ASIC); the 2,500 euros of the second prize have been for the Association of Mothers and Fathers of Girls and Boys with Cancer of the Valencian Community (ASPANION), and the 1,500 of the third place have been allocated to the Alzheimer’s Association of Elche (AFAE).

For Enrique Ordieres, president of Cinfa, “this event helps us put ourselves in the patients’ shoes, through the emotions we perceive in their eyes. Knowing their stories allows us to better understand the reality of all the people who live with a disease, and for this purpose, photography plays a fundamental role, being able to capture moments full of sensitivity and strength”.

‘A skin that screams’

The first prize went to ‘Ariadna, la Piel de Pez’, a photograph that introduces us to Ariadna, a 21-year-old girl with harlequin ichthyosis, a rare disease of which there are only two cases in Spain. Its author, Gala Espín, wanted to make a photographic report of her neighbor, but, out of fear, she did not dare: «There are many people who do not want to explain their experiences, are ashamed or are not prepared to tell them». She researched this rare disease and had the opportunity to get to know Ariadna better, a young woman with a great desire to live and who accepts her disease to the point that she wanted to be photographed at a time when her skin was especially affected. «This is how the reality of her day-to-day life is appreciated, just before the tar baths to which she must undergo to calm the enormous itching of her skin. For me, that decision demonstrates a very clear sense of security”, explains Gala.

Ariadna belongs to the Spanish Ichthyosis Association (ASIC), an entity that, as she herself explains, “is the best thing that could have happened to me.” Its president, José María Soria, values ​​Gala’s sensitivity, “that she has been able to capture a skin that screams”. She gives thanks for “the opportunity that it means that others can see, through her eyes, the difficulty of living with a rare skin disease.”

A race to overcome the disease

Synonymous with joy and happiness. This is how Lidia Navarro, a nurse at the Hospital Universitario de la Fe in Valencia, who is fond of photography, describes the essence of her portrait ‘Pancho Winner!’, a photograph that received the second prize. “Pancho is a four-year-old boy who came to our Apheresis unit, the hospital’s Blood Bank, for treatment against GVHD (graft versus host disease), after suffering from leukemia. Now, fortunately, he is fully recovered and hardly comes to the hospital, but, at that time, he spent the whole morning connected to a machine. So afterwards, we would always play races with him. This photo is from the last day of his treatment ».

2nd prize: ‘Winner Pancho!’, by Lidia Navarro Cuenca

Dolo, the nurse in the photo, says that in the first races she had to slow down so as not to beat the little boy… but in the last shot, “it was impossible to beat him, as if it were a metaphor, as if Pancho had won the great prize, finally reaching the goal of his illness». For Lidia, Dolo and their companions at the hospital, this image “symbolizes Pancho’s victory. It conveys his illusion and his ability to overcome adversity. They are small moments of happiness necessary in such an environment.

Lidia did not hesitate to choose the Association of Mothers and Fathers of Children with Cancer of the Valencian Community (ASPANION) as the beneficiary entity. For Jesús María González, president of ASPANION, «this award has been a very pleasant surprise on two counts: first, for the award itself and, second, for having been proposed by nursing staff with the support of a family. Since, in recent months, an increase in the demand for psychological care has been detected, we are going to allocate the prize money to our psychosocial care program ».

The look of a ‘girl’

The third prize went to ‘Children’s Game’, a photograph by Santiago Sánchez, which allows us to delve into another perspective, that of Manuela, a woman born in a small town in Granada, who suffers from Alzheimer’s. And not only in her eyes, since Santiago helps us reflect Manuela’s thoughts: «Game time is my favorite moment of the day. It is time to remember what I unlearned back in the day. Something as easy and as complex as a game that first falls into the hands of a child. A game that you enjoy while you learn its complexity, although it seems simple for those who do not play it. And that’s how we are, a group of old people trying to decipher a children’s game.

3rd prize: 'Children's Game', by Santiago Sánchez Castaño
3rd prize: ‘Children’s Game’, by Santiago Sánchez Castaño

Santiago is very close to the Elche Association of Relatives of People with Alzheimer’s (AFAE), since his wife’s grandmother was a user of the center. «He spent many years there and, therefore, we know first-hand that the work carried out by the workers at AFAE is admirable: the treatment they have with users is always very sweet and affectionate, they make them laugh, they tell them stories… I always I tell them that they are brave; people with an absolute vocation to help our elders », he explains.

For Celia Lastra, director of AFAE, «this contest fits perfectly with the group of people with Alzheimer’s. The look of the affected people is one of the most obvious aspects to the naked eye in the middle and advanced phases of the entire process. We will allocate the prize money to maintain physical and cognitive stimulation workshops to slow down the progression of the disease.

The winning images of this fifth edition of the contest have been selected by a jury made up of Pilar Martínez, president of the General Alliance of Patients (AGP); Fernando Comas, vice president of the National Association of Health Informants (ANIS); Eva Casado, president of the Association of Professional Photographers of Spain (AFPE); José Luis Pujol, professional photographer; and Enrique Ordieres, president of Laboratorios Cinfa.

The winning photographs, as well as a sample of other images presented, can be seen on the official website of the contest: lamiradadelpaciente.cinfa.com.

See them
comments

You may also like

Leave a Comment