Falling into the Day (2009-present) by Christopher Nunn

Issue 52

Falling into the Day is an on-going project about my friend David, an accomplished artist living with Alzheimer’s disease.

I met David in 2004 and over the following years became increasingly interested in his character, his simple day-to-day routines as an artist, his apparent solitary lifestyle and the fact that I still knew very little about him. I began photographing him on a semi-regular basis, but it wasn’t until 2009 that the work began to take direction. I started noticing a shift in his behavior and his routines, and eventually learnt from a friend of David’s that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

The photographs were taken over several years in David’s home, his studio and in the various care homes he has lived in between 2011 and the present day. What began as a simple character study of an eccentric man and his quiet existence slowly became a story about living with dementia, the subtle ways the condition can manifest its self, and the deterioration of a creative mind.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, there are 800,000 people with dementia in the UK with numbers set to rise to over 1 million by 2021. This will soar to 1.7 million by 2050.

Christopher Nunn lives and works Yorkshire, England.
To view more of Christopher's work, please visit his website.
Follow Christopher on Twitter.

David in his bedroom, 2010 

David in his bedroom, 2010 

David’s bed, 2010 

David’s bed, 2010 

David in his second care home, 2012 

David in his second care home, 2012 

Gown from honorary doctorate at Huddersfield University, 2009 

Gown from honorary doctorate at Huddersfield University, 2009 

Telephone, 2010 

Telephone, 2010 

Boxes of slides from lecturing in Australia, 2012 

Boxes of slides from lecturing in Australia, 2012 

Samuel Palmer book, 2012 

Samuel Palmer book, 2012 

Soap arranged in colour order, 2010 

Soap arranged in colour order, 2010 

David with one of his many diaries, 2010 

David with one of his many diaries, 2010 

Diary, 2010 

Diary, 2010 

A medicine bottle that belonged to David's mother, now used to store screws and fixings, 2010 

A medicine bottle that belonged to David's mother, now used to store screws and fixings, 2010 

David in the living room of his bungalow. His curtains were always closed, 2010 

David in the living room of his bungalow. His curtains were always closed, 2010 

Pockets fastened with safety pins, 2010 

Pockets fastened with safety pins, 2010 

David in the hallway of the terrace house he used as a studio, 2010 

David in the hallway of the terrace house he used as a studio, 2010 

Sitting in my car on a trip out to the countryside, 2012 

Sitting in my car on a trip out to the countryside, 2012