Galway solicitor wins photography residency to expand intimate series on her artist mother

But there was always a creative itch she wanted to scratch.

Hardly surprising since she grew up in a house where creative juices were flowing freely.

Her mother Vicki Crowley is an established artist whose stained glass creations are a feature of many churches in Ireland while her oil and silk paintings have been a staple of Kenny Art Gallery over nearly three decades.

Her late father Don Crowley, an engineer who worked on projects such as the new arts block in UCG, Castlebar Hospital and the Corrib Great Southern Hotel, was president of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and is credited with saving professional rugby in Connacht after he managed to get the organisation to do a u-turn and not disband it.

Deborah's first love artistically has always been photography and she has been an avid collector since the age of 16. After studying creative embroidery and visual culture at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), she undertook a course in Photography and Digital Imaging at NCAD’s Centre for Adult Education, graduating last June.

As part of her course, she decided to photograph her mother at home, documenting her everyday life and rituals after a tumultuous few years. The publication, Tender Eye, Measured Way, is a touching portrait of a parent in the throes of grief.

As Deborah explains in the graduation project: “After six decades of marriage to my father, my mother became a widow. Two years later she suffered an amputation of her right leg below the knee. My father was in his 90th year when he died. That he would die at that great age is the natural order of things, to be expected. That my mother would lose a limb was not. In creating this series of photographs I mean to portray the many strands of grief and loss and ultimately the story of a woman who has not simply overcome the double loss of grief and amputation but of a woman, who despite tragedy, lives her life on her own terms, deeply independent and remaining vital with a strong life force.”

She has now been chosen along with five other emerging photographers to take part in a mentorship programme at Photo Museum Ireland in Dublin's Temple Bar as part of the Talents Residency Programme. Under the guidance of the curatorial team, she will expand the series on her mother, which will be shown as part of Talents group show at Photo Museum Ireland next year.

“At the heart of this series is a collaboration between mother and daughter, she's given so much of herself to it. I hope that comes through the photos. That was always the challenge – how to photograph my mother without photographing my mother if that makes sense,” she reflects.

“I wanted to focus on female aging and identity. We're in a society that's saturated by youth culture, we're obsessed by youth. You don't see a lot of photos of an 86-year-old.”

Vicki continues to paint in her studio in Barna. She recently went back studying taking up a course at the University of Galway.

Her second eldest child and eldest daughter admires her style.

“She loves to dress up, to wear makeup, her clothes are nice, her nails are painted – as do all her friends, it's not unusual.”

Deborah had no qualms about pitching the idea of an intimate portrait series with her. Previously she and her five siblings have been source material for Vicki's art.

“I had to pitch before it was green lit. She had no hesitation but it did take a bit of time to get used to each other. Now she was the subject and I was the artist. It took a while before we settled into it but as I became more confident, she became more settled.”

A managing partner at Ferrys Solicitors in charge of the Rialto branch, one day she would love to work full-time as a photographer.

“This Talents Residency is a great opportunity for somebody only emerging, it's an incredible opportunity to develop your practice and your voice. Most artists have to work for a living. For now, I'll do it at weekends – any spare time you'll see me with a camera in my hand.”