This is what my girlfriend Frédérique needs to stay alive. Fred has type 1 diabetes (T1D).
We first met in the field last year. She was one of the field biologists I was photographing as part of my science documentation project. She told me then that she had T1D—I didn’t make much of it. I asked a few questions, noticed when she was adjusting settings on her insulin pump here and there, but otherwise, I didn’t notice much.
Since then, we’ve started dating, and now have been living together for almost a year. I’m still only starting to understand the immense burden that she and many others with this disorder are carrying with them on a daily basis.
The needles and injections are what we outsiders seem to remember most about diabetes, but this is just a small part of what they endure. From my point of view, what seems most difficult is having to be hyperaware of what you’re eating, constantly having to make high-stakes judgement calls, dealing with your body’s unpredictability, and most of all, having to deal with all of this on top of all the shit that happens in everyone’s life.
It’s manageable, yes, but it’s unfortunately something you never get a break from. And you don’t forget those scary moments, when you have a phone in one hand, one button away from calling an ambulance, and a glucagon emergency syringe in the other.
The photos I’m sharing now are a sneak peek of a long-term documentary project I’m working on. I’m sharing this today because it’s November 14th (Diabetes Awareness Day). Ultimately, I’ll want this project to give insight into the life of someone living with T1D, help dispel the countless myths and misinformation around diabetes, and hopefully empower others with T1D by sharing photos of a bad-ass field biologist.
For today, I just want to celebrate everyone living with diabetes, including, of course, Fred. She’s an amazing, caring, ambitious, and resilient person. I’m ending this post with this photo, which I took a few days ago and is already one of my favourite photos of her. She’s here unwrapping the new model of her insulin pump (her lifeline and artificial pancreas) while being supported by our 3 curious pets.
Thanks for reading!