Keep Living: Eric Middleton’s Story

ON A RAINY DAY ON FIFTH AVENUE, Eric and Geodee Middleton shared an umbrella. While shooting this picture, I realized that Eric’s story was not about dying. It was about family and love. I also realized it would not be like others I had worked on. Shortly after I took this picture, doctors in New York told Eric his cancer was unstoppable.

This project changed the path of my life as a storyteller. I had documented war and conflict before, but never something as intimate as a family preparing to say goodbye. Eric Middleton’s story was not only about death, but about the profound ways love endures when time runs short. From photographing his family portrait to sitting with him through his last nights, I carried both the privilege and the responsibility of telling his story truthfully.

Eric never saw the final piece, but he left behind lessons that reshaped how I see life: hug tighter, love more and recognize each day as the gift it is.