大象传媒

It was two years ago when Fiona Caley鈥檚 mother died unexpectedly. The freelance photographer from Hull was due to launch her first international photography exhibition at the time.

As a way of coping with her loss she decided to use photography as a medium to help with the consoling process. The end result is a new exhibition of photographs depicting personal interpretations of 鈥榤other鈥� by women from Hull and its twin city Freetown in Sierra Leone and sister cities: Szczecin in Poland and Reykjavik, Iceland.

鈥淒uring the Wilberforce Women鈥檚 鈥楪reetings鈥� project, just before we exhibited at the Ferens Art Gallery, my mum passed away so she wasn鈥檛 able to see the exhibition.鈥� said Ms Caley.

Fiona Caley: project coordinator and photographer

鈥淭he inspiration [for the exhibition] partly came from that as a creative response to what was obviously not an easy time. So taking that idea we thought this is a common theme: we all have a mother and we all have different feelings about our mothers, whether they鈥檙e good or bad.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a real roller-coaster journey but I would say it鈥檚 been extremely enjoyable and for me as a photographer, I just see it as a really positive means of dealing with a difficult situation.鈥�

Over 80 images will be on display in the exhibition, which is a culmination of a series of photography workshops for women in Hull and Freetown.

It forms part of the Wilberforce Women initiative which promotes skills and training development through photography for women, whilst developing links with Hull鈥檚 twin and sister cities.

Plum blossom

One of the photographers exhibiting her work is Martha Chan. A freelance journalist and translator from Hong Kong, who moved to Hull in 1995 to study and has been living and working in the city ever since.

Plum blossom by Martha Chan

Martha was prompted to join the project in the hope of learning more about the lives of women in the sister cities. She is exhibiting her work for the first time including the photograph of a plum blossom, a representation of her mother鈥檚 recovery from a serious illness.

鈥淚 took this photo a few years ago near my parents鈥� home in Hong Kong. A few months after I took the photo my mum was diagnosed with cancer.

鈥淐hinese culture always says: 鈥榓 plum blossom signifies a woman鈥檚 strength and spirit鈥�. So I think this is a really good photo to remind me of my mother and her spirit to fight the cancer."

Mother and daughter team

Also exhibiting their work are mother and daughter Lucy Flower and Violet Neumann from Hull.

Martha Chan

At 13 years of age, Violet Neumann is one of the youngest contributors of the project.

Her growing passion for photography spurred her to take part alongside her mother Lucy, and this is the first time she is exhibiting her work.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to know that other people share my love for photography. I like to see other peoples [photographs] just as much as mine.鈥� said Violet.

鈥淚鈥檝e always loved photography but these workshops mean that you can do photography and it鈥檒l go somewhere鈥� and it means that it鈥檒l be seen by other people.鈥�

Both Lucy and Violet decided to capture their mother and grandmother in a head and shoulders portrait.

Photo taken by Violet Neumann

鈥淚 tried to get my grandma in a nice natural pose but when you put a camera at her she shies away.鈥� said Violet.

鈥淏ut we eventually got her when she was reading a magazine and that鈥檚 what she likes to do mainly. So I thought it was nice because it [shows] her in her natural place.鈥�

Mothers 2009 opens at the Hull Truck Theatre on Wednesday 22nd July and runs until 15th August.

The Hull Truck Youth Theatre will perform a drama based on a selection of the photographs on display on the final day of the exhibition.