Both colour photography and the laws against abortion in Ireland were first introduced by the British in 1861, in an era of women’s suffrage. Much like photography, the movement that would evolve into feminism was a product of modernity; photography embodied the new obsession with empirical evidence and visual culture whilst the suffrage movement was a cry for recognition and equality, against the backdrop of new widespread industrialisation and the resulting slum conditions that fostered growing political awareness amongst women and workers. Butterflies are often regarded as symbols of freedom and change by many cultures, their capture and collection can reflect the harsh and sometimes fatal consequences of trying to pin down sexual behaviour and confine people to rigid gender stereotypes. It also echoes the Victorian patriarchal and colonial attitudes that attempted to categorise and control nature, to codify behaviours, quantify and objectify in the name of scientific ‘reason’.

At midnight on 21st October 2019, abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland. In honour of the many people who got us here and the thousands affected over the last 60 years, Array assisted my wheat-pasting ‘An Appropriate Hobby’ across the streets of Belfast. This book is a memento. Taken from images of the project https://www.emmacampbell.co.uk/an-appropriate-hobby