Skip to content

Photographer lines up Oak Bay models

Life lined includes 22 images using Monterey volunteer models aged 75 to 95
Life lined by Emma Kelly runs March 23 to 28 in the Monterey Centre foyer.
Life lined by Emma Kelly runs March 23 to 28 in the Monterey Centre foyer.

Elizabeth DeArmond didn’t anticipate becoming a model at the age of 87.

She certainly didn’t envision her “well earned” facial lines would be the featured content of a photo project.

The Oak Bay woman served among the models for fellow resident and photographer Emma Kelly, in pursuit of her certificate of fine arts at the Vancouver Island School of Art.

As a former nurse, Kelly loves interacting with people and it was her chance encounter with an older lady at a bus stop on Oak Bay Avenue that inspired her photography project.

“She told me that she was 92 and in very good health,” Kelly explained. “During our lively discussion about casinos, which is where she was heading, I became fascinated by a pattern of square wrinkles and crevices on her right cheek as she was speaking. In particular my interest was drawn to the darker areas between each wrinkle and the shadows which they created.”

It seemed that in some way these hidden and shadowed areas were a metaphor for the wisdom and depth that can come with aging and the passing of time. The experience of meeting the lady and the beauty of her skin stayed with me.”

Life lined includes 22 images exploring those depths and shadows using Monterey volunteer models aged 75 to 95. It will be displayed in the Monterey Recreation Centre foyer March 23 to 28.

“It’s just looking at lines and wrinkles in a different way,” Kelly said.

DeArmond, a 20-year Monterey recreation member, is among the models whose skin will be on display.

“It was something different and I thought it would help someone,” DeArmond said.

“We all age,” the older woman added. “It’s just another aspect, another form of enjoying the lines we have – of acceptance.”

 

cvanreeuwyk@oakbaynews.com