The Paris Kollection

Embracing and enhancing the passage of time as portrayed through images and stories of our beloved elders,
both equine and human.
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My name is Lynda J Watson and I am the co-founder of The Paris Kollection.  The title comes from my co-founder, 28-year-old (80 in human years) Paris, a lovely equine senior who rarely offers me time in front of the camera. She finally did one warm sunny December day at her home, HorseSpirit Connections in Tottenham, Ontario. After reviewing the images and reflecting on my wish to make editorial changes to remove greying hairs, etc. the idea was born. A social commentary of our own passage through time via photos that have not been ‘touched up’ and are as natural as they come alongside the story of their journey.  Our own, Paris Kollection.  After starting to photograph senior horses I realized that we needed to include our human elders as well. Every photo taken then supports each horse or human’s personal story. This Kollection is a reflection of how we view, care for and consider aging in our modern society, equine, and human. Through reflection we discover new ways of embracing that which can be enhanced. This evolving series will include stories and natural photos of horse and human elders. Those who have been loved and have loved us back for so many years.  We dedicate this project and kollection to all of our respected elder horses and humans that have graciously shared their passage through life so far and offer us their wisdom to reflect on our own journey through time. 

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The following is our proof of concept for The Paris Kollection including three equine bios and three human profiles. As well, you will find a Paris Kollection Narrative resulting from community conversations on the topics of aging in both worlds. These have all been put together to offer a concept of the full project. In total I have photographed thirty horses (that part is complete). I will now be photographing and collecting the stories of twenty human elders. We are looking for a diverse group of human elders that have passed sixty trips around the sun.  By diversity we are looking for different ages, genders, abilities, and cultures.  Due to travel and financial limits I am looking for human elders in Southern Ontario, Canada.  

May we all gracefully embrace our own passage of time

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Equine and Human Elder Bios
Please click on the photo to view their stories. 

Indigo

Bud

Billie

Ingrid

Pat

John

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Youthful and Useful
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A Narrative on Our perspectives of Aging for Horse and Human Elders
And the mirror each culture offers the other

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The Paris Kollection vision: To inspire conversation so we may embrace the passage of time. We offer a collection of stories and photos of both horse and human elders. In those stories, we will see the similar challenges both populations face, find wisdom for an aging world, and discover compassion for elders in both worlds. The Paris Kollection will encourage a social commentary in which we rethink our passage of time and improve the elder journey for both horses and humans.

To create this supporting narrative, The Paris Kollection started with community discussions. These created the foundational perspectives of aging in the equine world and its reflection on similar fundamentals of aging for human elders.....To read the full Paris Kollection narrative please click HERE.

Looking for human elders. If you are or know an adult who is over sixty and interested in participating please contact me at the email below.

Please consider a donation to The Paris Kollection. Until funding is established there are costs involved in creating profiles and building the foundations of this project.  Donation information can be found at: www. equineleadership.ca/donateel

Contact: lynda.equineleadership@gmail.com