Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest People
(Part 1 of Dementia) Photo Name: The Drowning Boy

This is a story of an old man suffering from dementia, and my own struggle with severe depression and suicide. I took these images when I lost all hope. My neighbor before his dementia, was a man who rarely showed love and when his dementia came it is as if he was no longer human. But when I began my struggle with depression at 18, I think I finally understood how he felt. It as if you can't see clearly no matter how hard you try. To everyone around you, you seem crazy but to yourself, you are just broken. Your memories are incomplete and you only remember how you felt in a memory lost in your mind. I am sharing this to give others solace, that no matter what, there is always a delight for you somewhere in something. My delight just happens to be in taking photos. This photo is a rendition of my experience when I almost drowned as a child. But with illnesses like depression, especially as an adult, the help seems to be limited, like how the figure is reaching out. If that was the case when I needed it most as a child, I wouldn’t be here it seems. The photo is of my window.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2023
Date Uploaded: 11.2023
Photo Location: Bronx, New York, United States of America
Copyright: © Sakaturi Sanuri