Eileen Perrier

Eillen's mom "Grace"

Above "Red,Gold,Green"

Afro Hair Beauty Show "1998 to present"

Following her first ever visit to her native Ghana young documentary photographer Eileen Perrier decided to work in color and to carry on a project which would link her visit and her family. Her images from Ghana sort of showed a better side of things and a more happier side on Africa than those of the media which were in black and white, Eileen could not relate to the black and white images showing poverty and distress in Africa as she was raise in the United Kingdom, so i feel she decide to flip the script to instead use color and show vibrancy and beauty in a more positive way.

After the visit to Ghana she began to do portraits of her own family, she would go to members of her family set up a backdrop in a space in the family home and then take portraits of them. she called this project Red, Gold and Green, amongst this piece are portraits of her aunts, extended family members and her mother. She also did projects on total strangers with whom otherwise she never have had the opportunity to meet so this is what makes some of her work fascinating, the courage to walk up to strangers and ask to take their photograph/ portrait. This is evident from her projects such as the Paris Metro station tittle "Nation 1999", the "Afro Hair and Beauty Show 1998", and advertising in the London Loot newspaper and on GLR radio for the project "Grace 2000" named after her late mother. i like the project Grace because in the images is an image of her mother which is the last image she took of her mother alive. its almost as though this was meant to happen for this project because this particular image suits perfect with the project and naming it after her mother makes it that extra little bit meaning full.

I had the pleasure to meet Eileen Perrier after her seminar and was able to get a autograph just to put the icing on the cake after her lovely presentation of her work.

http://www.eileenperrier.com/page12.htm

http://www.eileenperrier.com/