With 1.2 million Germans suffering from Alzheimer’s and 3 million expected by 2050, Alzheimer Research Initiative is working fervently to raise funding for a cure. Our brief was to share the absolute heartbreak of what it means to have Alzheimer’s, and instil a sense of urgency in fundraising for a cure. Alzheimer’s disease gradually destroys the memory – a painful and tormenting process for patients and their loved ones.

Through the eyes of an Alzheimer’s patient, everyday life becomes an unsolvable puzzle.

Utilizing the puzzle mechanic, the viewer can make out an undefined person. The frontal and side views of each subject share a similar colour contrast and saturation creating a harmony in the composition that looks like a piece of art, but at the same time, the identity of a person remains difficult to discern due to the missing and unmatched pieces - a metaphor for the piecing together of what memories remain.

We shot the same person from two angles - front and side - then mixed the pieces together. This allowed us to demonstrate the seemingly impossible task Alzheimer's patients face of putting together their remaining memories.

We cast average people, not models, as Alzheimer’s is a disease that does not discriminate. Viewers needed to see their own family members in the work.