May 2010 Archives

The DCU student magazine "Flashback" popped through my letterbox today thanks to Claire Brown. I answered a few questions for her some weeks back about being a photographer, how photojournalism has all changed, changed utterly and recounted some of my African experiences. Not least of which was getting detained in the Democratic Republic of Congo by those charming fellows at the ANR (Congolese Secret Police) on arrival in the country alone one rainy November night. For my students, past, present and future, Claire asked me about advice for young aspiring photojournalists. So, I'll repeat it here just for you guys "Photograph what moves you. Come up with an idea for a long-term project, keying off something that's personal to you and that you care about. This way, you will shoot with a passion and a purpose and this will show in your images. Build up a relationship with your subject and develop your social skills. Get inspired by looking at the work of photographers you admire in books, on websites etc. Photojournalism won't make you rich but if you are happy to be fulfilled on a personal and professional level, then don't give up" 

One of my ghost estates images features on the front of Guardian G2 today. The feature is Ireland's Shattered Dreams. Inside, there is a double page spread of the horses outside an abandoned house in Leitrim. They were beautiful horses, like those ones of our childhood dreams, you know, that whisk you away somewhere better. White Beauty. The one on the left was very curious and kept coming towards me, he was trying to sniff the camera. So, I let him. Then he gently tugged at the strap. The house, somebody's abandoned hopes and dreams. There were building materials gathering dirt, workers overalls on the ground, a fireplace with no hearth in a room with no view, but for hilly mounds of unkempt wild grass.

On May 15th, The Financial Times magazine featured a cover story on the economic situation in Ireland. I have been photographing some of Ireland's ghost estates particularly around the midlands and the Shannon region and some of these images featured in the story.