My father passed unexpectedly on February 4, 2005. Because I wanted to hold on to my father; because I wanted to remember everything that happened—what I saw, what I felt; because I am a photographer, I took hundreds of photographs during those FINAL DAYS of six public and private ceremonies as well as the five additional ceremonies for my mother when she passed away nine years later. Because I know that other people want to remember the final days of their loved ones, I take hundreds of photographs for them too.
FINAL DAYS creates a private healing space and a public tribute to the legacies of not only my parents, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, but also of other family members, friends, and loved ones such as Dr. Beny Primm, Donald Miller, Max Roach, and Sidney Poitier. FINAL DAYS shares some of the personal, ceremonial, and farewell rituals that they wanted for themselves and that we wanted for them.
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