Gold: Deathwork
In the United States today, death is taboo. Despite its ever impending nature, this stage of life has become something hidden, with longer life spans and a shift away from aging in place; there is more distance from death than ever before. However, for some, staring into the eyes of mortality is a daily reality. From remembering those who have passed on, those in their final phases of life or those working in the industries that intersect and are formed around death, “Deathwork” engages with the labor of these practices, seeking to stop and confront this inevitability through the eyes of those who constantly do.
Untitled
End of life doula and serious illness companion, Jane Euler poses for a portrait in her home January 2, 2025 in Fairfax, Virginia. "I think people die the way they lived, and you got to wrap your head around that. So if you've had someone that's maybe just gone with the flow all their life, you know, a team player and loved life and all that, that's kind of how they're going to go out...there's not going to be any big, huge changes because they are dying."
