WIRED has wanted to commission photographer Elinor Carucci for a long time, but there had to be the perfect story for her signature style. Carucci’s body of work is documentary images of family, motherhood and children. We found that story in Sam’s Cure, which chronicles one family’s quest to treat their son’s epilepsy with a cannabis compound.
Carucci said yes after reading author Fred Vogelstein’s draft. She was as excited as I was. After I got the proofs back, I was overcome with emotion. I hadn’t even finished looking through her very large edit when I had to call her. We had an intense and emotional talk about motherhood, life, love, family and trust.
It was obvious Elinor spent many personal moments with Sam. Carucci captured him not only from a photographer’s perspective, but a mother’s. The two had a deep connection, and it makes for powerful, intimate photos.
Only a few of those images were printed in the magazine, but here Fred Vogelstein, Sam’s father, narrates a moving selection of Elinor’s photographs.
