Emotional “Picture You, Picture Me” series by Emer Gillespie

Photographer Emer Gillespie offers an interesting image series, called “Picture You, Picture Me”, that consists of photos of her daughter as well as photos of herself captured by her child.

One of the most inspiring portfolios that you can check out on the web belongs to photographer Emer Gillespie. She is based in Brighton, UK, but her collection has been featured in numerous galleries and exhibitions, bringing her worldwide recognition.

Photographer takes images of daughter, daughter takes images of mother

The series that attracts the highest amount of praises is called “Picture You, Picture Me”, which is not entirely her work. A lot of the photographs have been captured by her 12-year-old daughter, named Laoisha.

Laoisha is suffering from Down’s Syndrome, though this does not mean she is not interested in what mommy is doing all the time with her camera.

She has been born in Ireland back in 2002 and, roughly six years ago, Laoisha has taken an interest in her mother’s camera. Emer takes pictures of her child, while Laoisha captures a similar image of her mom. The result is amazing and it shows that the youngster has a natural talent when it comes to photography.

Emer Gillespie has already taught Laoisha how to use the Mamiya RB 67 film camera

Photo shoots have quickly turned in “play sessions”, but Laoisha has been taught how to control the Mamiya RB 67 film camera. She can use the light meter properly, load the film and control the focus.

This Mamiya model does not support autofocus, therefore some images captured by the teen are out-of-focus, but the young photographer is working on improving her skills.

Despite the fact that a small part of the photos turns out OFF, they are not immediately ruled out of the “Picture You, Picture Me” series.  These photos are intentionally left like this because they provide an extra dimension to the collection.

“Picture You, Picture Me” will continue until Laoisha wants her mother out of the frame

Emer Gillespie says that the project will not be over anytime soon. It will continue to “evolve naturally”, as she is learning to have a better control on the film camera.

The photographer says that this art allows her to provide an insight into the “complex relationships” of the “contemporary family life” from two perspectives: as a participant and as an observer.

Another important topic of “Picture You, Picture Me” is “child autonomy” which will keep on evolving until Laoisha no longer wants to capture photos of her mother and she moves on to other subjects.

The full collection can be found on the official website of Emer Gillespie, which is full of amazing content.