Over four months of preparation… and now the day has finally arrived – my first photography exhibition at Newcastle Library – entitled “Distant Voices”.The images and words of local North East people recounting stories of what life was like living through WW2 and it’s immediate aftermath – culminating with an image of my Grand daughter Lola May holding a red poppy and who was rather aptly born on Remembrance Day 2011.
Lola’s mother, Kate would dispute that Lola is actually ‘unheard’ – she can be pretty loud at times!One of my aims for the exhibition is to bring out the stark contrasts of how life was during WW2 and it’s immediate aftermath compared to now …. how things that appeared ‘ordinary’ to my ‘voices’ were in fact really quite the opposite – they were actually ‘extraordinary’.
Many of the ‘voices’ in this exhibition are in their 80’s and 90’s – their stories need to be told…. reading about the war and what life was like in history books is all well and good, but it really brings it to life if you hear it first hand from the people themselves. It was also very moving hearing the voices at the Distant Voices Exhibition whilst viewing the images…. Brings it to life….
It’s been quite scary on the run up to it if I’m honest – on the one hand my thoughts were ‘What if nobody turns up to see it?’ and these thoughts quickly turned to Oh My God, what if people do turn up and say “..yeah… and… so what Alison …..”But I shouldn’t have worried – as they say in the film ‘Field of Dreams’…. ‘If you build it they will come’ – and indeed they did!!Lots of people came to see it and listen to the ‘voices’ including some of the ‘voices’ themselves.
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