Photojournalist captures purity and pain chronicling Valley residents living with Alzheimer’s

Cheney Orr may not have known it at the time, but he had the chance to vicariously relive his father’s memories of life and love before they vanished.

The Brooklyn native was just 21-years-old when his father was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2011.

At the time, Cheney was a diaristic photographer who would capture various moments of his life, including his father, David Orr.

David had shown signs of Alzheimer’s when he was 59 and was diagnosed at 61. And as the months went on Cheney began to see a theme emerging in his photo diary that depicted his father as the disease continued to progress.

After his father died on May 1, 2017, at the age of 68, the photos Cheney shot were published in the New York Times in 2018. This not only created journalism opportunities for him but also illustrated the impact he wields through his lens, impact which inspired a project that captured what others may not ever see or understand about the disease.

He recalled people reaching out to him expressing how the images helped open their eyes to how the disease affects people.

While others told him that his photographs brought a form of comfort for them.

It was these stories that motivated Cheney, now 34, to continue shedding light on dementia and Alzheimer’s through photography, and the Starr County community, an area with curiously high levels of the disease, became his muse.

Carmen rests her hands on top of her dad’s in Rio Grande City, Nov. 25, 2023. “I remember him doing hand puppets with a gas lamp during a thunderstorm when we lost electricity. And he would put his hand under his armpit and make that sound,” says Carmen. “He always had a sense of humor.” (Photo by Cheney Orr)

THE PROJECT

Oftentimes people can hear the word, Alzheimer’s, and think they know what it means: a debilitating disease that affects one’s mind and tragically cuts people from precious memories, and important functions.

But hearing this or thinking about it cannot ever convey the true effects a patient and their family suffer, which is why Cheney and his mom, Masha Hamilton, wanted to humanize the disease and show people that they’re not alone in it.

“Both my mom and I wanted to focus on, not just like ‘oh the disease is so hard,’ yeah we all know that. It sucks. But also, try to highlight the unexpected joy that exists through this disease,” Cheney said. “Not like, try to make light of the disease, but make people look at these individuals who have the disease and see them as human beings.”

In July 2023, they visited Starr County after he had come across an article that showed the large Alzheimer’s rates in that area.

According to data from the National Library of Medicine, in 2024 there were an estimated 6.9 million Americans 65 years and older with Alzheimer’s dementia. That same data estimates that by 2060 it could grow to 13.8 million people with the disease.

In the Rio Grande Valley alone, counties have reported some of the highest rates of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias, or ADRD, in the state with prevalence rates of 15.5% in Starr County, 14.8% in Hidalgo and Willacy counties and 14.6% in Cameron County, according to a University of Texas Rio Grande Valley article.

They chose to focus their project on the stories told by families and caregivers in Starr County to help bring a new perspective to the disease.

For Masha, 60, the goal was to pivot the attention from the latest medical drug and rather focus on the people whose lives were affected, while also shedding light on the caregivers who often have to put their own lives aside.

She explained that although she had her children helping her when David was diagnosed with the disease, there is an aspect of the journey that’s isolating.

“We did have questions then and afterwards, and there was sometimes the feeling of being a little bit alone with it. Because you yourself are working still, you’re going around your regular life, you’re also doing caregiving on the side. I mean it’s complicated,” Masha said.

Sissy helps her mom Joann out of bed in her mom’s home in Mission, July 31, 2021. Sissy Garza-Ray of Roma is intimately acquainted with Alzheimer’s disease and related Dementias. Both her parents died from it and Sissy was a nurse for over 30 years, retiring in 2023 from an assisted living facility in Rio Grande City where many patients suffer from Alzheimer’s. She points to two factors she believes are overlooked when considering the disease: stress, and years of poor nutrition. (Photo by Cheney Orr)

The duo visited the area various times, even returning to Starr County for National Alzheimer’s Day events in 2023, as well as three months in the fall that same year.

Throughout the course of the project they spoke to families and patients who were dealing with Alzheimer’s.

One man told them about how he became the caregiver for his father and would often have to help him to the bathroom.

It was one of those instances that his father said something he had never said before, “Hijo, I love you,” Masha said, adding that many dealing with Alzheimer’s share similar stories.

This is what they wanted to highlight with their project, Tracing Memory: Light and Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s, to show that not all moments are sad after the diagnosis.

“There is and there can be beauty within this disease,” Cheney said, adding that it’s an unexpected beauty that changes people.

He added that it often makes one cherish those moments even more.

Although at times the project was challenging, Cheney and Masha were motivated to give a voice to those dealing with the disease.

Ramona and Gracie sit together in Gracie’s back yard. (Photo by Cheney Orr)

“It can be emotionally challenging to re-engage and be around people with Alzheimer’s and talking and thinking about it because it’s painful, because it brings back painful memories,” Cheney said, adding that focusing on the joy can also bring back those memories, and live on.

To see Cheney’s photo project depicting these Starr County residents, visit tracingmemory.com.

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