Theresa Byrnes is an artist and a performer. She is also one of the most extraordinary and inspiring individuals I’ve ever known as she never allows the fact that she is in a wheelchair to inhibit her zest for life or passion for creating art. And at the age of forty-four, she just became a mother for the first time.
We originally met eighteen years ago when I took the portraits for her first ever magazine article in Who Weekly that detailed her battle with Friedreich’s ataxia which had put her in a wheelchair in her late teens. I admired her drive and determination and we subsequently became friends after the shoot.
She moved from Sydney to NYC about twelve years ago and when I relocated here eight years ago we picked up our friendship as if no time had passed at all. I became one of the people she’d call to get involved when she created her semi regular performance pieces such as ‘CLOTHED’ and ‘Measure Of Man’ which I documented and can be seen in this blog.
Sometime last summer Theresa sent me a message asking me to visit as she had some news to impart. I was surprised when she told me that she was pregnant. Having raised my daughter as a single parent for ten out of twenty years, I know too well the potential issues and difficulties involved in raising a child and so immediately volunteered to help in any way I could.
We agreed to collaborate on a series of pictures where I would document the pregnancy on a semi weekly basis and the pictures in this blog are the result of that collaboration.
I photographed Theresa eighteen times in her gallery and at home between 20th September and 17th February, when I took the first pictures of her son Sparrow Joe Louis. I have only posted the gallery pictures here as I feel they are stronger in this context.
This is an excellent article in a recent issue of Villager about Theresa and her views on becoming a mother at this stage in her life. For inspiration and perspective on life, it’s definitely worth taking the five minutes required to read it. Theresa is currently having a massive art sale and I suggest that if you’re in NYC you make your way down to her East Village gallery at 616 East 9th St between Avenues B & C on Saturdays and Sundays and if you’re not here in the city, then go online to her website or the online catalogue and buy something there.
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-09-27 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-10-05 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-10-12 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-10-25 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-11-01 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-11-09 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-11-16 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-11-23 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-12-01 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-12-07 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-12-07 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2013-12-29 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2014-01-05 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with her mother on 2014-01-13 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2014-01-18 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2014-01-26 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2014-02-04 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with son Sparrow Joe Louis on 2014-02-04 in her Gallery © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Pregnant Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with her mother on 2014-02-04 in her East Village Gallery ‘Suffer’ © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes pregnant with her son Sparrow Joe Louis 2014-02-04 in her East Village apartment © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes at home in her East Village apartment with her son Sparrow Joe Louis 2014-02-17 © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes at home in her East Village apartment with her son Sparrow Joe Louis 2014-02-17 © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes at home in her East Village apartment with her son Sparrow Joe Louis 2014-02-17 © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes at home in her East Village apartment with her son Sparrow Joe Louis 2014-02-17 © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Artist Theresa Byrnes holding son Sparrow Joe Louis at home with her mother in her East Village apartment on 2014-02-17 © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Sparrow Joe Louis 2014-02-17 © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
Sparrow Joe Louis 2014-02-17 © Andrzej Liguz/moreimages.net. Not to be used without permission
