Katharine Norton
Kirkland, Washington
In 2023, my friend, Mason, tested positive for Huntington’s disease. Through this collaborative body of work, we are reflecting on the feelings of impending loss while attempting to preserve some part of him as he is now. I am photographing him, not in an attempt to make a latent disease visible, but to explore his identity and expression through the lens of my friendship with him.
In addition to collaborating on ideas for the images, he sews on some of the prints, leaving a physical mark of his presence on the photographs. The process of sewing on the prints is mirrored in his clothing. He views the way he presents himself through ornamentation as simultaneously making his life more beautiful and worth living while consuming time that he knows is limited.
The process of making this project fulfills, for both Mason and myself, the very human desire to leave some proof of a life lived. The photographs point to moments of me seeing him, while the sewn prints show evidence of an object that passed through his hands. The materiality of the altered prints serve as proof and artifact of his physical body and ability - something that will outlast him.
