Hiiraan Online

In 2008 photo journalist Nigel Brennan was reporting on the civil war in Somalia when he was kidnapped by a criminal gang and held hostage for 462 days.

The story of his survival has been told in interviews and a biography and now an exhibition will give extra insight into Brennan's hostage experience.

There will be images, audio recordings and personal objects including letters Brennan's family wrote to him while he was held captive.

"They were in a care package I never got."

Brennan has been working on the exhibition for three years with Albury City's Bianca Acimovic. Both were based in Bundaberg when the project began.

When Acimovic moved to Albury, the project went with her and it's where it will officially open before touring other Australian galleries.

"The exhibit will allow people to get a greater understanding of not only what I went through but the lengths of what my family went through to secure my release and bring me home to Australia.

"They will see the photos I did manage to bring out and they will also get an insight into the conditions that I was kept in and also a real insight in how my sister, sister-in-law, my entire family pulled together to achieve a goal to get me home alive... At the end of the day it is a family love story."

The exhibition is presented in various phases of Brennan's hostage experience including his arrival in Somalia, kidnapping, ransom, fundraising and release.

"I hope people can come along and look at the pictures that I took and have a greater understanding and be more passionate towards refugees in a country, because at the end of the day we are all refugees and come from somewhere else and they deserve our empathy and support."

The Price of Life at the Albury Library Museum August 18 until October 7th, 2012.

ABC Cross Media Reporter Allison Jess has worked with AlburyCity to produce an audio tour to accompany the exhibition.