Clare Cosson was a vibrant Rye-based photographer, who embraced life with a unique joie de vivre. Over 10 years she battled three different types of cancer – non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Hodgkins lymphoma and a very rare leukemia (chronic neutrophilic). She fought these with grit, determination, laughter and friendship. Sadly, Clare lost her battle with Cancer in September 2021, aged just 49.

For the last years of her life Clare had a popular, effervescent Instagram account, f_off_cancer, detailing her ongoing fight, which is filled with wonderful photographs and a poignant, chronological commentary of her life and treatment. Her account remains triumphantly alive on Instagram, inspiring people following a similar path to Clare’s.

Curating this exhibition of images and words was a long, joyous, and arduous process, due to the sheer number of Clare’s posts. It was decided that her images, printed at A2, should be the first thing to grab a visitor’s eye. The words, taken exactly from her posts, are a stream of consciousness in a line below the large A2 images, providing an insight into the last six months of her life. Working from left to right, the first post, from 1 January 2021, displays Clare’s hope and optimism about a new year; the last post is her final one, as she battles the hideous nature of her treatment.

This extraordinary and powerful exhibition, inspired by Clare’s Instagram account, is her first one-woman show. It clearly records both Clare’s unique eye (in the images) and her way of writing, which inspired and continues to inspire so many.

To view Clare’s instagram, please visit: @f_off_cancer