Fiona Bailey – Visiting Olive

I first met my neighbour Olive at our street party several years ago. She was the oldest resident on our street and we had asked her to open the street party. She was 85 then and already quite frail. Over the coming years the neighbourhood would look out for her and make sure she was okay, but after that, her falls and the coming and going of the ambulance became more and more frequent. I started to see and help her out more often and of course got to know her better.

Like all of us, Olive didn’t want to be forgotten, she wanted to leave something behind. I suggested that I would make a book of her poetry and also asked if she would mind if I took some photos of her and her possessions.

We are an ageing population and people like Olive are becoming more and more common. She fought for her independence, and yet relied on the state for that independence. She had no family, so relied on the infrequent and time restricted visits of the carers. Olive was fortunate that she lived on a small street with neighbours who checked up on her, washed her hair, took her to the dentist and the hospital. London is a city of nine million where people like her are being neglected and forgotten all too frequently.

My photos are documenting a lady I became very fond of. I know she enjoyed the time we spend together and I enjoyed taking and showing her the photographs I made.

Olive died just before Christmas 2015 having lived a full life. I know that she will be happy that, through out project, we have made sure that a small piece of Olive Brown lives on.

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