Tim Andrews was a solicitor who was unfortunately diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He was diagnosed in October 2005 after he was driving home and noticed an unstoppable tremor in his thumb. After deciding to quit his job, he started to turn himself into an art project. However, this was not a sudden decision; he was going to continue with his career until he struggled even to hold a pen and noticed he was not working anywhere near as hard as he was initially.
his becoming a lawyer was not purposeful, he dreamt of becoming an actor- 'When I was a solicitor, I would spend my evenings putting on plays because I longed for a more creative life.'
He spent three years creating 128 portraits of himself where he worse different accessories, he displayed a variety of mixed emotions and moods throughout his imagery really showing and playing around with his creative talent. He has captured a lot of images where he is fully naked and as he states - "For me, the nakedness represents a stripping away of layers of identity, and also a sense of freedom that I don't have to be what anyone expects.". This statement proves how much thought went into the creating of this beautiful project.
Tim andrews. Photo by Liz Orton.
I found it be fascinating that he would create nude images, especially after coming from such a formal career to creating something that makes him seem quite vulnerable and informal. However, after reading his reasoning behind it, I felt so passionate and vital but also remarkably powerful as he is describing his identity through body language.
"Without the drugs, I would be much less animated; I would be drawn, react and speak slowly. I know the pills combat only the symptoms; they do not cure it: Parkinson's only gets worse – it never gets better."
When I read this quote to Jake's nan, she immediately related, she is only able to do anything for herself is when she takes her tablets. I have noticed that she struggles the most around 30 minutes before her next dose as this is when they start to wear off. As it takes approximately 20 minutes for them to start working, she usually has a 40 - 50-minute window where she is very aggravated, anxious and shakes a lot. It is quite sad how a lot of people tend not to understand the effect the tablets have on Parkinson's patients; without them, they would be almost wholly stranded.
It started by Tim Andrews sending a nude photograph to photographer Graeme Montgomery from Time Out as a response to his advert. Shortly after, he received two more requests. He then searched the topic ‘Photography’ on Gumtree and was surprised to see a lot of people, especially students looking for models.
Graeme Montgomery, Number One from the series ‘Over the Hill’
The above photo was the first photo taken for Tim Andrews project 'Over the Hill'.
'I wrote to Graeme in 2010 to request his permission for an exhibition I was putting on of the images taken so far. He was amazed that, by this point, I had done 128 photographs, and told me that in the same time he had moved to New York, fallen in love, got married and had a baby.'
It is so beautiful and incredible that Tim Andrews has been able to find a passion and make something out of a negative thing. He has created a very depressing illness into a work of art that will, hopefully, help others with Parkinson's to learn that this is not necessarily where life ends. I know for a fact that Jake’s nan loves to be able to relate to people with Parkinson’s, people such as Billy Connely, Michael J Fox and Ozzy Osbourne. I feel and hope that she is also enjoying someone giving her attention and making a project about her point of view on the illness.