A Strathmore Photographer is excited to share her debut children’s book, “The Lost Photograph” with families in the community.
Christina Hatton-Fearnley has always had a passion for writing as she attended the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) journalism program, with the dream of becoming a photojournalist.
“It felt far-fetched,” Hatton-Fearnley said.
After becoming pregnant with her now four-year-old daughter, Hatton-Fearnley began to pursue photography once again.
“It took off, and I’ve been doing photography ever since. I never thought of going back to the writing part, because I’ve been focusing on photography, developing that passion, and working with clients,” Hatton-Fearnley said.
“I love looking at pictures. It’s different when it’s in your hand and it creates a conversation. Photos are so important, I love taking them, I love being in them with my kids, and printing them for the wall,” she said.
Through COVID-19, Hatton-Fearnley found writing again, as a way to keep busy.
“Writing has kept me busy in the quiet evenings, and it’s given me something to sit down, do, and have a routine,” Hatton-Fearnley said.
For Hatton-Fearnley it was extremely important to create a project that featured her passion for photography.
“The lost photograph” is a story featuring a mother and daughter. The mother shares a special photograph with her daughter of when she was young with her parents.
The daughter realizes how special the photograph is to the mother, however, the photograph is lost. The daughter becomes frantic looking for the photograph.
“It’s the panic that the daughter feels that she’s going to disappoint her mom. We’ve all lost things really important to us. When you lose something you beat yourself up, but when you lose something someone gave you that brings it to another level,” Hatton-Fearnley said.
When reading “The Lost Photograph” Hatton-Fearnley is hopeful that children reading the book will take away that a parent’s love doesn’t change.
“I want the conversation to be, even if she did lose it, and kids lose things a lot, no matter if this girl really did lose this picture, how would the mom respond. Just because we’re upset, doesn’t mean our love changes, kids make mistakes all the time, but a parent’s love doesn’t change, we have feelings just like kids have feelings,” Hatton-Fearnley said.
“Sometimes kids have big feelings, and adults have learned to be more in control of our feelings, if something goes wrong, that doesn’t change my feelings towards you, and the love never changes,” she said.
While creating “The Lost Photograph,” Hatton-Fearnley ran into a variety of challenges such as working with editors over email due to COVID-19.
“I’ve corrected it 100 times. I want it to be professional, correct, and grammatically correct,” Hatton-Fearnley said.
Despite the challenges, Hatton-Fearnley has experienced a lot of highlights while creating the project, such as receiving hand-painted illustrations from a local artist.
“I was anxious to see the photos, but I was so excited to see them come together,” Hatton-Fearnley said.
“I wanted hand-drawn, hand coloured, hand-painted illustrations. You can’t get that shading digitally, you can tell it was pencil and water colour, and I love the hand-drawn aspect of it,” she said.
Adding, “The pictures bring the story to life.”
In addition to seeing the illustrations, sharing her love of photography was also a highlight while working on “The Lost Photograph.”
“I miss photography, I miss connecting with clients, I’m missing milestones, and I started to think about photography and why I do it,” Hatton-Fearnley said.
“I really want to share the joy that photos give me,” she said.
“The Lost Photograph” is now available for pre-sale, and Hatton-Fearnley is working to bring “The Lost Photograph” into local Strathmore businesses such as Lil Hoots Consignment Boutique, Value Drug Mart, the Strathmore Public Library, and Chestermere Public Library.
Hatton-Fearnley is also hopeful to do storytime events at schools, daycare, or local libraries when it’s safe to do so.
For more information visit, https://www.facebook.com/writerchristinahattonfearnley.
To purchase a copy of “The Lost Photograph” email Christinarao9@gmail.com.
