The Photo Times: A Rare Look At Models With Their Mothers

MORWENNA LYTTON COBBOLD, former Burberry model, photographer and

DJ, will open a new exhibition of photographs capturing models with

their mothers in London later next month. The showcase will raise

money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, with all pictures available

to buy.

The display, held at The Gilbert Scott Restaurant from October 1

until October 31, initially began as a private project, consisting

of portraits of fashion models with their mothers: “I travelled to

their homes, removingÂ the sittersÂ from the conventional

big fashion shootÂ set up. HavingÂ worked and

travelledÂ around the world as a model myself since I was 16

years old, the importance of time at home with familyÂ has

becomeÂ increasingly apparent.”

The photographs, shot on medium-format film with a Mamiya RZ Pro

II camera, are warm and personal, capturing the rare moments when

models return home to relax with their families. Cobbold – who will

DJ at Manchester’s LK Bennett store at Fashion’s

Night Out next month – explained that she wanted to document

family dynamics through portraiture: “Coming from a world of

high-production, large-scale fashion shoots, for my personal work I

wanted to strip back all the artificiality and styling and make my

images more about the people in them. I asked the sitters to wear

their own clothes, do their own hair and make-up, and to arrive

alone at their homes to create an intimate and personal portrait, a

side of the sitters rarely seen.”

Despite a career in modelling, Cobbold explains that she has

always taken photographs: “My mum gave me her Eighties Nikon FE2

camera, which I learnt all the basics on. It began my love of

shooting film, and I built a darkroom in our old bike shed at

home.” To accompany the exhibition, her photographs will be

published in a book, Mother, to fundraise for Breakthrough

Breast Cancer, a charity chosen by the model after being an

ambassador for the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer

campaign.