Grace Robertson

Peter Fetterman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA 

"I felt I was an observer of society. I never thought about my presence in it. My driving force in photographing women was to find out what makes them tick." – Grace Robertson

“Whenever I need a pick me up I look at this hilarious photograph. It was taken by my friend, Grace Robertson. Grace was one of the pioneer women photojournalists who worked for “Picture Post,” the UK equivalent of Life Magazine. Her most beloved story was “Mother’s Day Outing” originally published by Picture Post and two years later re-commissioned by Life Magazine which follows a group of working class
women who were friends from a local pub. They leave their men behind, hire a bus to transport them for a day trip to the Coast or as we say in England the “seaside," fill the bus up with beer and food and just escape from everything. As the day progresses they become more and more tipsy and more and more uninhibited as only women in the company of women can do...Free from all their domestic responsibilities. As Grace says of the day, “I set off on the Saturday with the women in the coach. Their energy was awesome. These women were survivors. These were women in their fifties, sixties and seventies and they had been through two world wars and the Great Depression in the middle. They were incredibly exuberant. And inspiring."” - Peter Fetterman