Elizabeth’s Daughter, Photography
ELIZABETH’S DAUGHTER IN PICTURES
01
Story
A photo documentary chronicling my journey through Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, writing a memoir of my late mother, Elizabeth Essien
02
Process
I took pictures, interviewed, and collected stories and archival photographs from my mother’s friends and family
03
Timeline
The bulk of the nonarchival photos were shot in 2010-11, though the project is ongoing
About Elizabeth's Daughter.
From October 2010 to February 2011, I traveled to Nigeria to conduct research on the life of my late mother, Elizabeth Essien, who died from cancer in 2002.
I conducted interviews with my mother’s surviving relatives and childhood friends in Akwa Ibom State, visited her village of Mbak Etoi, and schools at which she was a student and teacher before immigrating to the United States.
Elizabeth’s Daughter is a multimedia memoir chronicling my journey from grief to hope, as I uncover my mother’s life as a would-be nun turned wife and come of age as a writer. Elizabeth’s Daughter: In Pictures is a sampling of photos I shot and collected from family and friends, chronicling my journey through Nigeria writing about my mother’s early life in post-Civil War Nigeria.
Client: Self
Date: September 2010 – Present (Ongoing)
Website: Elizabeth’s Daughter
Services: Photography, Photo Editing, Interviews, Story Collection, Archival Research