LA art exhibition look at dying through words, photos

Four years ago photographer Andrew George approached the medical director of a Los Angeles hospital with an unusual request: He wanted to meet and take photographs of people about to die.

There was nothing macabre about the request, George says. He simply wanted to learn of and reflect the wisdom these people had gained in the hope that others could discover how to lead better, more fulfilling lives.

“I wanted to make a project about the universal challenge that we all have to address, and that is dying,” George said as he sat in a gallery in Los Angeles’ Museum of Tolerance, where his photo exhibition, “Right, Before I Die,” opened this week.

“I thought if I could make a project about exceptional people who had overcome the fears that we all grapple with in life. Then it occurred to me that I could really only get that from dealing with a dying population.”