Men Zhu, “Knitting” her life at 90 (DOCO 2024)

Grandma is almost 90 years old. Last year, as borders opened, we travelled 15,000 km and 22 hours to reunite with her for the first time in 6 years. Taking photos of her has always been one of my favourite things to do in the past. I often bring a camera with me when I visit her, and this time was no exception. While she is in very good physical and psychological health, she is almost 90, and every day literally counts. Halfway through our visit, I had the idea of capturing 'a day in her life' to keep as memories. I captured hundreds of photos from the time she woke up to the time she went to bed. Thanks to this competition, as I was thinking about entering the 'Documentary' category with these photos, I got to really go through them. One thing I realised something that I hadn't considered while taking them: her reasonably good physical and psychological health is closely tied to staying active and positive. 1. One of her morning routines is reading. 2. My favourite hobby is photography, while hers is knitting and sewing. That's usually how she spends her mornings and early afternoons. At the age of 90, she is still making things for her loved ones, from sweaters to cushion covers. That's her way of expressing love and care for us. 3. In the afternoon, she usually follows tutorials on her iPad for some movement. 4. Late afternoon, if there is good light, she sits in the backyard and enjoys the sun and a moment of peace. 5. On day one or day two of our arrival, she told me with a big smile on her face that she has already purchased her spot at the local cemetery and she wants to take me there to visit. I was shocked and did not take it well, so I simply smiled awkwardly in response. I knew she would eventually take me there, so I was trying to make sense of it and come to terms with the idea. One day, a sentence from a book that I had read in the past came to mind. It was a book about the author grandma and the sentence sounded something like 'She is gradually approaching death and slowly coming to terms with it. Yet all I know is trying to break free from death,' and suddenly I understood her. So, a few days before our departure, we went to her "spot" and I snapped this fifth photo, while she stands "there". I admire her courage towards death and how she approaches life at the age of 90.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.