Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist
Photo courtesy the artist


‘Passions’, Kay Walsh

‘Passions’ provided the opportunity for young and vulnerable parents to become confident in image making and explore their individual responses to the word passion. The idea behind the project was to enable the women to explore their own identity outside the role of being a parent. A persona that can often leave women feeling invisible outside of this role.

This project challenged this view by encouraging the participants to work with their passions. By uncovering and exploring parts of their identity that became more hidden or forgotten since embarking on parenthood, they showed a wider view of themselves. The women spoke about the lack of energy and time they had, since becoming a parent, to think about themselves or their own interests. They were asked to think about what they felt passionate about and how they would express this through image making.

Part of the course was to gain new skills and to try photographing different subjects. They explored portraiture, architecture, still life and reportage before setting out on their own to take pictures. The theme allowed them to focus on certain experiences in their daily lives. Throughout the course, each participant gained confidence and developed a strong body of work to describe their own passions. Some had never taken a photo before, others had a camera but hadn’t taken many photos, and all became much more engaged in the process of image making. One parent said “having to give back my camera is like loosing my right arm”.

‘Passions’ was commissioned by HS Projects and funded by the Insight Community Arts Programme (2002 – 2015).

The project ran from July to December 2014.