Mary Gillens
<p>Mary Gillens moved to Wheatley Hill in East Durham from Fatfield when she married. She came from a family of 22 and she herself had 5 children, 2 boys, Ralph and William (he died at the age of 13), and 3 girls, Gladys, Florrie and Una. They lived first at 13, Smith Street then moved to 20, Gullock Street where they stayed for about 9 years.</p> <p>It was during this time, when her family were young, that Mary started to take photographs with her box brownie camera. Her work is a reflection of her domestic situation. She documented her family and friends in Wheatley Hill and the subjects rarely posed. If something caught her eye she would run in the house and return to the scene, camera in hand.</p> <p>Mary died in 1967 at the age of 78.</p>Wheatley Hill
from: Photography
The County Durham mining village of Wheatley Hill documented from the 1920s onwards by a member of the community.