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[civich]

Expressive eyes which have seen something of life. Her beauty is made more evident by the absence of hair. Great character and great beauty. Great portrait.

[Ari]

...
-the vignetting and dark tones help communicate the idea of worry and foreboding
-the reflections in the water somewhat communicate that she is lost in another world

Thank you, Frank; I tried to steer away from making this too sombre, as she is in good health and generally good spirits; I wanted more of a record of herself, now, to contrast with what will eventually be a more positive outlook.
I may have added dark tones and the reflection to anyone in the sitter's chair that day, but I suppose her mood and situation made her more of a study in worry, and "lost in another world".

[Ari]

Ari: Like the other posters, I do think your portraits, especially as a pair, are very strong. Not only did I respond to your mother-in-law as a probable cancer patient (i.e. the loss of hair, before you posted additional information), but in the first portrait I "read" the foreground puddle as echoing tears or sadness.

Your question about "telling a story" raises the question of how many photographs are really needed to portray a full story. What came to mind immediately was a book the documentary photographer Eugene Richards co-authored with Dorothy Lynch ("Exploding Into Life") in which he photographed Dorothy's fight with cancer. I think that in the sense of "story telling" you would have to approach the subject in a similarly documentary way, which implies many more photographs than we large-format types tend to produce. In that sense I think you have very effectively photographed a point a point in your mother-in-law's life, but perhaps not told a complete story. To give a specific example, from the two portraits we cannot tell whether treatment has been effective or not; a series of portraits as your mother-in-law recovers and her hair grows back, would "complete the story." (Since I tend to respond to posts on this forum in photographic terms, this time Nicholas Nixon comes to mind, as a large format photographer who has tracked his sister's lives over an extended period of time.)

Thank you, Peter.
And yes, telling a story through photographs, one, a few, or many, is something I personally find difficult to do.
In this situation, we had one chance to get a few photographs done, so it in effect becomes a document of her on that day, or at that time of her life.
She lives abroad, and I see her only once, maybe twice a year, if that; I hope that by next year, we'll have much different photos to make, thus "completing the story".
And my Nicholas Nixon-type story is my wife and daughter.

[Ari]

Expressive eyes which have seen something of life. Her beauty is made more evident by the absence of hair. Great character and great beauty. Great portrait.

Thank you, Chris; very much appreciated.
Indeed, it has been a difficult year for her, and her eyes are the signposts to what she's going through.

[Light Guru]

Your question about "telling a story" raises the question of how many photographs are really needed to portray a full story.

That's a vary good question to raise. The headshot photo by it self tells a story of someone going through cancer. The story I get from the other one is of someone who is alone. Showing then together the story I get is of someone going through cancer alone.

I tried to steer away from making this too sombre, as she is in good health and generally good spirits

I took these shots of my step-mother yesterday; my wife and I had a discussion on whether or not these photos told a story, enough of a story, or nothing at all.

This information that she is not alone (she has at least your wife and you) and that she is in good health and good spirits seems to conflict with the the story that the photos tell on their own without any other information.

[Frank_E]

Thank you, Frank; I tried to steer away from making this too sombre, as she is in good health and generally good spirits; I wanted more of a record of herself, now, to contrast with what will eventually be a more positive outlook.
I may have added dark tones and the reflection to anyone in the sitter's chair that day, but I suppose her mood and situation made her more of a study in worry, and "lost in another world".

it is not an easy topic to deal with, and it is certainly difficult to portray photographically in a way which you would want to
because your own feelings will get in the way
and it is sometimes very difficult to assess what your own feelings really are in these situations
and how you might portray something different from what you actually feel

I have never tried to do a photographic study of a topic like this
but I can speak to the issue of cancer and the conflicting feelings you might have around that whole issue
I lost my mother to cancer….

[johnmsanderson]

Individually very strong images, together they work beautifully. Yes I did originally think she was possibly fighting cancer.

[Ari]

This information that she is not alone (she has at least your wife and you) and that she is in good health and good spirits seems to conflict with the the story that the photos tell on their own without any other information.

Thanks for your comments, Zak.
She does not live with us, she lives overseas, we don't see her that much; and despite the good prognosis and her inner strength, she does have her bad days, where the worries take over.
Inwardly, that's what I sense about her; outwardly, she is usually in good spirits and positive.

[Ari]

Individually very strong images, together they work beautifully. Yes I did originally think she was possibly fighting cancer.

Thank you, John; much appreciated.

[Ari]

it is not an easy topic to deal with, and it is certainly difficult to portray photographically in a way which you would want to
because your own feelings will get in the way
and it is sometimes very difficult to assess what your own feelings really are in these situations
and how you might portray something different from what you actually feel

I have never tried to do a photographic study of a topic like this
but I can speak to the issue of cancer and the conflicting feelings you might have around that whole issue
I lost my mother to cancer….

Thanks again, Frank; your last sentence is, unfortunately, an all-too-common refrain.