Passage is a series of photographs made at the English church in Menton, France, at Easter 2003. St. John’s Anglican church is a busy community hub for English speakers and others in the last town on the French Riviera before the Italian Border.
2026
From the series Passage
From the series Passage
My mother was a regular at the church and she was good friends with Beatrice, and the then treasurer, Bill Butcher. We would pop in for a drink in the shade of the trees outside the entrance, sitting on the big blue table to chat with the volunteers and library members. My son was little at the time and was always warmly welcomed. I made the photographs in an afternoon. I think the church possibly used one of the colour images, I processed and made little work prints when I got home and then forgot about them.
I first came to Menton with my parents in 1971 when I was 9. Bill and Pat Butcher were members of the Aston Martin Owners Club in the UK, which is where we first met them in 1968, having moved from the United States to London. They were very “English” and lived in a beautiful cottage in Bedfordshire with a large garden. They were older than my parents and they didn’t have children of their own. They were very kind—Pat was slightly scary but she had a deep, resounding laugh. Bill raced his Aston, and my Dad, also racing, often met up at Silverstone or Brands Hatch. Bill and Pat had a holiday flat in Castellar, where the little museum is now. I remember being on holiday there: the flat, pale green with frosted glass, was tiny. The World Service played while Mum cooked in the little kitchen. Dad and I walked through the fields to Menton and I saw my first snake.
About the exhibition:
DIALOGUE, DISINTEGRATION AND THE DISCONNECT is a three-woman exhibition at the Unitarian Chapel, London N16, March 2023.
DIALOGUE, DISINTEGRATION AND THE DISCONNECT is a three-woman exhibition at the Unitarian Chapel, London N16, March 2023.
Mara Bodis-Wollner, Sacha Lehrfreund and Heather McDonough are photographers and artists living and working in Hackney, London.
Working individually, but following each other’s work on Instagram, they eventually decided to meet and discuss their interests, approaches, and reasons for shooting at night in Hackney. Each of their styles crossed over, bound by different artistic parameters.
The relationship to each other’s work and the local neighbourhood initiated a playful conversation and led to an artistic collaboration, culminating in this exhibition.
The trail of art throughout the building evokes the experience of the night walks. The urban nature that was captivating outdoors has relocated to the interior in different forms and media.
