We are proud to acknowledge the following Honourable Mentions from the 2025 Anti-Stigma Award. Their inspiring work and commitment to challenging stigma made a lasting impression on the judging panel.
DEMENSCH
by Peter Gaymann (and Thomas Klie)
Humour is a powerful tool for approaching difficult topics, offering fresh perspectives that nurture understanding and compassion. The DEMENSCH initiative, launched in 2013 by gerontologist Thomas Klie and myself, uses gentle humour to convey a humane view of dementia and open hearts in everyday care. Through cartoons and the annual DEMENSCH postcard calendar, we aim to ease fear and stigma while encouraging empathy and participation. Humour becomes an act of resilience, helping us face what cannot be changed. Now embraced across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, DEMENSCH invites communities to see dementia with humanity, tenderness, and shared laughter.
Find out more: https://www.gaymann.de/demensch/
Aimants, Aidants (“Lovers, Caregivers”)
by Mathilde Parquet (Alzheimer France Savoie)
This exhibition has two main aims: to destigmatise Alzheimer’s disease and to honour the vital role of caregivers. It challenges stereotypes by portraying people living with Alzheimer’s as individuals with passions, relationships, and identities that endure. It also highlights the emotional and practical challenges faced by caregivers whose contributions often go unrecognised. Featuring seven caregiver and receiver pairs from real life in Savoie, France, each story is presented through a photographic diptych and written testimony. The humanistic, accessible style invites viewers to see that Alzheimer’s does not define a person and that understanding must replace fear.
A Calm Gaze
by Wouter van Wessel
This photographic series looks beyond the limitations of Alzheimer’s disease, focusing on the life, strength, and individuality of Marianne Schwenk. It celebrates her abilities and meaningful activities, emphasising independence, presence, and agency despite her diagnosis. After moving in with her son Benjamin, Marianne built a new life along the Mosel River, tending her balcony garden, walking by the water, and learning French. She welcomed me into her daily rhythm with warmth and openness, revealing not illness but resilience and quiet determination. Through moments of connection, joy, and capability, the series challenges dementia stigma and affirms identity, relationships, and life beyond diagnosis.
Find out more: https://woutervanwessel.com/
What the Light Remembers
by Simon Móricz Sabján (Social Cluster)
Simon Móricz Sabján’s 2022 documentary photography project was created during the COVID-19 pandemic, when isolation and fear deeply affected the most vulnerable. With special permission, he entered the Boldog Gizella Elderly Home in Hungary, where many residents live with dementia, to capture moments of care, connection, and quiet resilience behind closed doors. His photographs reveal the humanity, tenderness, and strength shared between residents and carers, portraying dignity and love amid uncertainty. Although his untimely passing left the series unfinished, the work endures as a moving tribute that continues to inspire empathy and understanding across generations and borders.
Find out more: https://simonmoricz.com/
Walking the talk for dementia: A journey Beyond the diagnosis
by João Barbosa
This project, alongside Walking the Talk for Dementia, challenges the stigma surrounding dementia. For one week, people with dementia, caregivers, researchers, and artists walk together to celebrate life. Through raw, emotional photography, it replaces despair with hope and shows that joy, love, and ambition continue beyond diagnosis. Co-created with people living with dementia and their care partners, the work captures laughter, leadership, and connection, revealing that dementia does not erase desire or dignity. It asks not “How long until decline?” but “What do you want to do next?”
Find out more: https://www.joaobarbosa.co/
Walk the Talk for Dementia - Stepping Forward for Understanding
by Max W. Schulte
Walk the Talk for Dementia is an inclusive Camino de Santiago experience where people living with neurodegenerative disorders walk alongside clinicians, specialists, carers, and supporters. It transcends labels and diagnoses, fostering human connection, shared stories, and renewed meaning and hope. The project challenges stereotypes by capturing participants’ transformative journeys, showing their resilience, dignity, and capacity to live full, vibrant lives with the right support. These images reveal joy, strength, and connection, portraying people with dementia as artists, athletes, lovers, and equals. Walking together dismantles stigma, demonstrating that dementia does not define identity or limit meaningful contribution.
Find out more: https://www.instagram.com/deepvisage/