Visiting Ammachi is a two-year-old photo project I began in mid-2008, shortly after I bought my first dSLR camera. What started as casual picture-making quickly morphed into a project. I wasn't merely documenting my grandmother in a nursing home; I was exploring what it meant when a woman from a traditional South Asian culture -- where elders are cared for by relatives until death -- ends up in a nursing home because of her cantankerous personality.

Don't fret, though. Ammachi, 85, remains sharp and spunky. She doesn't complain about her situation; occasionally, she'll whine she wants to move to another home. She has a lot less energy compared to five years ago, but her voracious appetite remains. And her sharp tongue is uncontrollable, as evidenced by complaints lodged against her by patients and personnel.

Despite being born in a less-than-just era for girls and women, she managed to control her sail. Ammachi completed a year of post-secondary education after high school (an unusual feat for a farmer's daughter in 1940s Kerala, India); during the 1970s, she opened a trade school in Kerala, where she taught air-conditioning and refrigeration technology. After a few visits to the United States, she and my grandfather emigrated in the mid-80s to New York.

She is strikingly vocal; yet, in recent years onlookers have witnessed a significant decline in her coherency. Statements rear-end previous statements, one disparate thought crashing upon another. (I recorded her conversations several times, which got me on the track to thinking about making a film because her essence is difficult to capture in photos.)

Colleagues who had either seen the images or heard me describe the project often opined that I should exhibit the photos, or pitch a photo essay to a publication.

My next move is to document her through video, interviewing those who have known her for decades. Through the medium of video, the viewer would witness Ammachi's peculiar mannerisms and combative tone, aiding her or his understanding of her circumstances and relationships. It would also examine the anthropological and sociological determinants that shaped her and -- coupled with her actions -- led to her placement in a nursing home.

I am curious how people -- relatives, church members, nursing-home staff -- will characterize her after all these years. I also wonder how they and outside experts on the South Asian diasporic experience would perceive her unique situation.

Of course, my view of her will be equally as important. I think I will be better able to articulate my thoughts on her as I proceed with the documentary video. I don't believe objectivity matters so much with this form of storytelling and regarding this very personal subject. It is difficult to view her objectively -- after all, she's my Ammachi (uhm-muh-CHEE).

-- January 24, 2011