Picture You, Picture Me is a heartwarming visual tale of a mother and daughter bonding through photography. The ongoing and collaborative portrait project between Irish artist Emer Gillespie and her daughter, Laoisha, born with Downs Syndrome, began in 2008 and continues to develop through today.
The pair shoot together on a regular basis, exchanging roles as subject and photographer with Laoisha taking more and more control of the camera as she gets older. Throughout the project, they direct each other on how to stand, which direction to face, and what facial expressions to make.
They often switch places within the same setting, creating alternative ways of viewing a typical family dynamic and changing the traditional expectations of mother/daughter roles. Gillespie says, “As a participant-observer, these images are my own examination of appearance and existence, perception and thought through the visual exploration of my modern family.”
