My project, Zarek: A Family's Journey, is a long term documentary about my families on going journey raising my youngest brother Zarek who has battled numerous medical and behavioral conditions since birth. Diagnosed with Autism, Epilepsy,Cerebral Palsy, and severe allergies, his life has been nothing but easy and new challenges present themselves everyday. He is completely dependent on others. These challenges have thrown my family into a world of constant struggle, stress, and devastation drastically altering the structure of the family for both bad and good. This project is a look at the daily life of Zarek and our family.
I was ten when Zarek was born and had very little understanding on what laid ahead. As I grew older and found photography I found myself photographing Zarek but I had no purpose or reason for it. I just did. Almost like a way to escape the scary and emotional things I was witnessing that I had no way of coping with or understanding . Then one day my mom broke down; she was exhausted and crying on the living room floor completely broken. She was at rock bottom. Then Zarek went into a seizure and instantly with out hesitation she pulled herself up to be there for him. Singing, comforting and praying to him as he seized and lost all control of his body. This moment showed me the beauty, love, and will power of a parent and inspired me to show the world what I was seeing. The ugly and beautiful sides of it.
This project has opened my eyes to some many things. The simple and beautiful moments of human compassion. The unconditional love a parent or family member can harbor within in them. How stress and turmoil can strengthen the human connection. The growth of my family in ways words can not describe.
How do your parents do it? What will happen to Zarek when your parents are gone? What do you think Zarek is thinking about? These are questions i've been asked that drive me to tell this story and find the answer in images.
I plan to continue this project indefinitely since there is many more chapters ahead and many obstacles for Zarek and my family to overcome for the rest of our lives. These images are a very small sample of the overall project that continues to grow and change over time. My overall goal is to give people a glimpse into the world of raising a child with special needs and inspire those who are going through it.