This relationship, like all relationships, is about acceptance and
trust. In each moment I am challenged by my own prejudice and fears.
Disabled or not, to witness a child grow up and allow them to develop as
themselves, to nurture potential but not overwhelm is a daunting task
facing all parents. With a child who has a disability it is hard to
ignore this task. Even the most mundane experiences are heightened and
intensified. The pace of life is slowed down and so these feelings that
accompany this journey unavoidably rise to the surface daily. My
struggle has been to stay close enough to a core sense of myself and not
to be seduced by an external image of 'how to live' and 'what's
important' but to a vision created by just us in the present reality of
our lives. When you have a learning difficulty you already live outside
a well-defined box. Often being 'different' can be liberating. This is
my point of view. I do not intend to speak for other mothers. It is the
history I have created and I am aware that there are many different ways
to tell this narrative. Each child is different and each child with
Downs syndrome is different. This document is about being 'Up Close, '
up close to both of us. Up Close: A Mother's View is an extraordinary
book. With some fifty photographs taken over the first twelve years of
her daughter Ophir's life, and a meditative, thoughtful text, Fiona
Yaron-Field conveys her moods and feelings, reactions and impulses as a
mother. Her lucid words frame the record of an affectionate and
unflinching focus on her relationship with her growing daughter,
reflected back through the lens of the camera. Fiona has worked as a
professional photographer and Art Psychotherapist for over fifteen
years. Her work has primarily focused on the family and running a
successful portrait business. She has worked in various community-based
projects teaching photography and facilitating groups of children and
adults with both mental and physical disabilities. Fiona has exhibited
her photographic work, and most recently her show Shifting Perspectives
was shown at the OXO Tower, London, after touring in the UK. Her latest
project is due to be exhibited in June 2008. She is the mother of two
girls. Ophir, her eldest, has Downs syndrome
