About exhibition

This exhibition showcases portrait photography by Fiona Wolf as an output of research undertaken by Dr Louisa Smith from Deakin’s School of Health and Social Development and Institute of Health Transformation.

Rainbow Connections was co-developed with LGBT+ people living with dementia and their peers who wanted to make their lives and relationships visible. The exhibition focuses on four people living with dementia and LGBT+ peers who are important to them. These relationships with peers – some of which are facilitated by the Aged Care Community Visitors Scheme – not only affirm and celebrate gender and sexuality diversity, but in some cases provide the only friendship in the person living with dementia’s life.

Each of these photoshoots was deeply relational. The photos were taken over many hours and sometimes days, with each LGBT+ person living with dementia directing how they wanted to be represented, seen and recognised. LGBT+ people living with dementia wove their life stories into the way they posed for the photos, and shared their deep and real affection for their LGBT+ peer.

Dr Louisa Smith received funding from Dementia Australia Research Foundation and Medical Research Futures Fund.

Note: In this exhibition we use the acronym LGBT+ to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We acknowledge that gender and/or sexuality diversity encompasses a greater range of forms and expressions of diversity than can be captured in the LGBT+ acronym. We nonetheless have chosen to use this acronym because we have not had access to intersex or asexual people living with dementia. We also do not use the word ‘queer’, because it remains a complex and potentially hurtful term for many older LGBT+ people, due to its historic use as a demeaning slur.

Collaborators