Imma Di Lillo, an acclaimed Italian photographer celebrated for her compelling work in street, travel, and food photography, brings a deeply personal lens to the subject of motherhood in her latest project, A Mother is Born. Born in Capua in 1991, Di Lillo’s journey into visual storytelling began early and was refined through formal education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples and the Polytechnic University of Valencia.
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A Mother is Born explores the profound transformation that occurs with maternity—not simply the arrival of a child, but the emergence and rebirth of a mother herself. Conceived in solitude but crafted with love, the project unfolds as a visual narrative told through authentic bodies, quiet moments, nurturing gestures, and the intimate rhythms of breath and silence..
Di Lillo’s images reveal a kind of maternity that is often invisible: one that hides in sleepless nights, silent struggles, and the subtle changes of the body. Through her lens, motherhood is rendered in flesh and breath, in hands that hold, in the constant evolution of the maternal form. It is a love that marks the skin, a force that penetrates, heals, exhausts, and ultimately redeems.
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The series gives voice to experiences frequently left unspoken—the emptiness, the loss and reconstruction of identity, the deep sense of isolation. Yet, within this vulnerability, Di Lillo captures the gradual emergence of instinctive, ancestral love—a love that is first physical, then mental, and always transformative.
At the heart of the project is an unwavering honesty: the acceptance of imperfection and fragility, balanced by remarkable strength. A Mother is Born offers a space for mothers to find themselves, to recognize one another, and to affirm: I am not alone. This body of work was born in the very place where everything seems to fall apart—and, in that moment, a mother is born. The exhibition runs until November 2nd at FAC, Via Fiammetta, 5, 80138 Napoli.
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FAC, founded in March 2021, emerged from the collaboration of multi-talented artists—actors, musicians, directors, writers, and educators—working in the entertainment industry. United by a horizontal vision of art, culture, and creativity, FAC fosters opportunities for dialogue and connection across cinema, theater, music, and education, bringing together the arts and the people who engage with them.
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For further information on the artist, please visit the following links:
For further information on FAC, please visit the following links:
Images courtesy of Imma Di Lillo.
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