When the diagnosis affects loved ones.

For a year, Anton Vester accompanied a self-help group for people with early-onset dementia. His long-term documentary ‘Demenz in Beziehung’ (‘Dementia in Relationships’) is on show at two venues in Hannover until 12 October.

21.09.2026 Edited by Michael Hauri

Dementia doesn’t only change one life – it also changes the relationships around it. That is where Anton Vester comes in. Between summer 2025 and summer 2026, he regularly visited a self-help group at Projektraum Lindenbaum in Hannover. Ines, Klaus, Peter and Guido gave him an insight into their everyday lives with the illness.

In Germany, well over 100,000 people under the age of 65 are living with dementia. It is often diagnosed late and mistaken for burnout, depression or being overwhelmed at work. Vester focuses on the consequences: relationships come under strain, roles within the family shift, and questions of closeness and letting go shape each day.

But he also shows the strategies the four use to assert their dignity and independence. Photographs, portraits, video sequences, handwritten texts and excerpts from conversations come together in a multi-layered long-term documentary.

Vester (born 1996) came to photography by a roundabout route: he was a police officer before starting the Visual Journalism and Documentary Photography programme at Hochschule Hannover in 2021. In 2024, he won the VGH Photo Prize for ‘Ohnmächtige Stille’ (‘Powerless Silence’), about the shortage of donor organs. ‘Demenz in Beziehung’ was produced in cooperation with Caritasverband Hannover and is funded by CaritasStiftung Hannover.

Dates

Exhibition period:
22 September – 12 October 2026

Outdoor exhibition:
Leibnizufer, near Schloßstraße, Hannover
open at all times

ka:punkt:
Grupenstraße 8, 30159 Hannover
Tue–Fri, 12 noon–5 pm
Free admission.

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