A beloved grandpa who spent his adult life traveling the world, taking amazing amateur photographs of animals and landscapes along the way, is finally getting the recognition he deserves, thanks to the help of his granddaughter.
87-year-old Clyde Elmore recently started struggling with dementia, which has seen him forget where he took some of his stunning images.
Clyde worked as a weed scientist, his granddaughter Spencer, 29, said, which saw him document invasive species, weeds and pest management through photos.
But when he retired, Clyde dove into wildlife and photography, snapping shots from as far and wide as Mongolia, Iceland, Cambodia, Tanzania and Botswana.
Clyde has visited more than 40 countries, Spencer said, but his beautiful works never progressed further than on family members’ walls and in local galleries.
When she visited Clyde’s studio one day, Spencer asked Clyde what he planned to do with all his images, to which her grandpa said humbly that he wanted people to see his works and for them to have a lasting impact.
And so, Spencer set herself the task of modernizing her grandfather’s photographs – setting up the likes of a website and an Instagram page and sharing videos of the journey on social media.
She also shared the emotional side of things, explaining that due to her grandpa’s condition, he has started to forget where some of his stunning shots were taken in the world.
The hard work, however, started to pay off as Clyde’s Instagram page grew to have more than one hundred thousand followers.
In the future, people can purchase prints of Clyde’s work, said Spencer, who hopes her grandfather’s success can inspire others with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
The 29-year-old, from Los Angeles, California, said: “It’s been extremely surreal and heartwarming – I have often cried a lot while editing these videos.
“To be honest we weren’t all that close while I was growing up and this has really brought us together as well as the whole family.
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“Photography is a huge part of my education and career as well and it never dawned on me where that might have come from or how much Clyde and I had in common until I started helping him.
“We never imagined it would catch on at quite this magnitude.
‘It’s been cool to read the messages from people who have been deeply moved and impacted by his story.
“People who have been impacted by dementia or Alzheimer’s in some way as well as people who have memories of a certain places/animals Clyde photographed.”