GOOD STORIES TO TELL!

I would now like to welcome my first guest writer to my blog a Man with insight on his way to London.

The following are his words

 Neil Callanan has moved to London after six months as a freelance journalist. Prior to that, he was business editor of The Sunday Tribune when it shut its doors in February.

HOLD ME CLOSE ,KEEP ME SAFE!

I had another one of those beautiful experiences in Kilmainham last week.I met with a family who where just about to ship out to Holland. they had been guided to my project by a friend and they liked what they saw.It was in the eleventh hour that they had made contact with me so there was no time to physically scout the site,but we put our heads together and came up with a location where I knew there were a few good angles and plenty of space to do the shoot.

  These are the Brichard -Rooneys Ken,Severine,and and the beautiful Leonore.

ON THE WORLD STAGE!!

Worldwide a lot has happened since my last post.
I was delighted to hear that my good friend Keiko Furamoto and her family were all safe and well after the Japanese earthquake/tsunami. A total disaster which will have far reaching effect on a lot of people for many years. In Libya the United Nations have declared a no fly zone which should lead to the end of the Gadafi regime, although this could get worse before it ever gets better!! Closer to home things seem to be hotting up in Europe again!

Well we are only a few weeks into the life of the new Dail here in Ireland and I have to say I am an aweful less irritated by the new crew than I was by the old crew. I am delighted to see that so many have either retired in fear of rejection, or have just been rejected. The batty days of the two Brians and a whole bunch of Mary's are well behind us no doubt. But, it remains to be seen if our new crew can unravel the  tangled web woven by the two Brian's on their retreat. Europe should take its share of the blame for our sad situation but I don't think thats going to happen easily!
Still thought things are pretty tough and I can see all the uncertainty continuing for some time. Yesterday as some predicted Portugal joined the party and now we only await the failure of Spain to send the European project into meltdown. I wonder can they pull it off and get it all back on the rails. Well thats one world stage now on to another.
For me the "Leaving Dublin" project is an inspiration. Every time I go to shoot I meet people who are meeting the challenges of life head on and getting on with it, no messing around just taking the bull by the horns and going for it!!
This week was no exception, I met with Raissa Oliveira Do Prado, a Brazilian who has been living in Ireland for almost a year. Raissa who is a marketing specialist came to Ireland to learn English and to de-stress herself. Her hope was that time spent in Ireland would refresh, de-stress and prepare her for meeting new challenges back in Brazil. I suppose for her it was interesting to be in a country in flux during her stay. Chatting with her on the night it was clear that she loved her time here, the people, the places and the slower pace of life. Considering that she comes from a city of 11 million inhabitants the pace of life in Dublin must have been relatively crawling when compared to Sao Paulo. She has left now and no doubt has enjoyed a reunion with her family before setting out on the next chapter of her life, a new job with the addition of english, a little older and a whole lot wiser after her year out!!
Raissa chose the Pheonix Park, she lived just across the river in the Coombe and the parks of Dublin were pretty special to her especially this one and St Stephens Green.
On the stage that night she performed beautifully and after, enjoyed the peace and quite of that moonlit night in the city centre park. The bandstand is located in the hollow beside the Zoo.
Sadly it looks like it has been some time since it has seen a performance and the beautiful white seats wait patiently for  noise, merriment and mischief (perhaps even some music) to once more populate the stage.
As always Artur Sikora and Hugh Mc Cabe hoofed the light around the location with ease. No rain this night so no complaints.
Big thanks to Mariane Goldberg in Sao Paulo for putting me in touch with Riassa

Please use the follow button on the top righthand side of the page to follow this blog. There are share buttons below so tweet and share with your fb friends with one click there!!
Please comment as it helps to make the connection
thanks
david

TIGER BOUND

Niall Judge and Roisín O'Connor are off. They have had enough. Life in Dublin has become very tough. No real prospects in the financial services sector and shrinking wages and a deteriorating health service, make for an untenable position for Niall and Roisín respectfully.
Like so many they are looking out into the world to find a place where their skill sets are needed and valued beyond the subsistence wage they can achieve here. That coupled with a better lifestyle should leave them both feeling a lot better about themselves and gives them a common stage on which to play out life in a more meaningful way.
So Niall and Roisín are off to Singapore a centre of world trade and one of the real asian "Tiger"economies.

When Niall suggested to me that the Pheonix Park would be a good spot he mentioned the Papal Cross as something that would remind him of happy times spent walking and training in the large flat green space that played host to a papal visit way back in 1979.
About ten years ago I made some polaroid stereo pairs using a linhof 4x5 camera and some instant colour print film. One of these images has stayed in my mind and it featured the cross in sharp focus away in the distance framed between two trees and shining forth white against a blue sky. I quickly set about incorporating this version of the cross into my composition for Niall and Roisín's portrait as I thought they might be impressed. When I sent my proposal to the couple this is the one they chose as being the place they would like to shoot. Needless to say I was delighted.
On the night it was raining a little and it proved to be a difficult shoot as working in the dark without the aid of public street lighting made things quite tricky. But with a good crew all is possible.
Artur Brian and Hugh all came together to transform a tricky situation into a joyous outcome.
Even a trip by car to illuminate the cross was no problem as we synced by phone across the parks black void.
Niall and Roisín should be happy that there passage between on ex celtic tiger to the real thing has been marked by the creation of this dramatic parting shot. In fact for me it feels like we buried the beast in the Pheonix park that night!!
Big thanks to Niall and Roisín for keeping it together on such a miserable night.
And also huge thanks to Brian, Hugh and Artur, the right guys in the right place at the right time!!
Please follow this blog by using the follow button on the top right!
Also comment freely as it makes it all worth while!!
David

ELECTION SPECIAL!!

We wake up this morning to the possibility of change. That in itself is an enriching experience!
For too long I and others listened to the arrogant ones talk pure horse shite and at all times there was never anything we could do but suffer their over inflated egos and their empty words and hold firm until this day came.
When I go to the poll today it will be as a reactionary. I will not be voting for the person or persons I wish to see govern this country.(quite frankly we are stuffed for a few years yet)
I will be voting to remove the current regime(and its likes) full stop.
Hopefully over the next few years the events that conspired to mess up Irish life will be unpicked
and we can move forward unchained.
These feelings are shared by our latest sitters Linda dePaor and Philip Duggan
as they leave this country for pastures new with their young son Luca.

They are disillusioned about the way this place has been run and Linda (a solicitor),and Philip( a librarian)
see no great career prospects for themselves in the current climate. However they do have hopes of returning some time in the future to find all changed with prosperity and effective government in place.
Once again I applaud the actions of people like Linda and Philip as they move on into the unknown
with nothing but their ambition for a better life for themselves and Luca.
We shot this image just two nights ago in the dolly mount end of St Annes park A place dear to this family and only ten minutes from their now previous home.The exotic trees and strange root structures form a very powerful backdrop for this historic parting shot,and I thank the Guiness family for the fantastic planting that was their back garden back in the day!!
The set was very close to the road but it was very tricky as someone had driven a tractor through our exact tripod location that day.What a mess!!
We were joined on the shoot by Eve Irvine and Valerie Labonne from France 24 a French T.V.channel.
The shoot will form part of a report to be aired next Monday night as a report on Ireland around the time of its election, another very exciting turn for the Leaving Dublin Project.
Hopefully this picture will also feature in a printed piece in a Belgian newspaper De Standaart (next Saturday) again to focus on the election story.
I really wish Philip, Linda and Luca the very best in their new home Australia and I hope the time they spend there is full of good experiences.
And indeed I hope our own little election story has a happy ending ,or at least a twist that was not predicted by those pollster types!!

Artur, Hugh and Mel were on hand once more to throw a light on this very dark place, so big thanks there.
Please share this post via the share buttons below.
Also you can follow posts by clicking the follow button on the top right.
Comments as always are alway welcome and responded to.
big thanks to all
david

A VIEW FROM THE HILLS

Its clear at this point that momentum is gathering around the Leaving Dublin project.
Over the last two weeks there has been a lot of publicity,heightened by a CBS news story and several online news stories and print media stories.
here are a list of some of these pieces
broad sheet.ie had a piece called The Exodus
the journal.ie had a piece highlighting the CBS piece
And diaspora.ie also had its own take on this project with a link to a youtube piece from my last post
photographers.ie also had a short piece about the CBS story
Later in the week I had a call from a Sunday Tribune photographer and talked to a very nice journalist John Downes he interviewed me and did a very good piece last Sunday.
Next Up is the Six One news(its here now 18.25 into the bulletin) with big thanks to their video journalist Philip Bromwell
and a few seconds in a piece by Saskia Dekkers re the new wave of Irish emigration on Dutch public television.
Considering this work is still in progress, and therefor has no P.R. machine behind it, one can only be amazed at the level of media coverage to date.
There is no doubt that the subject matter is very current, but even still I was aghast to be half way up a mountain on a shoot with two national T.V. cameras pointing at me.
Also we were ten people, a little more than usual for a shoot that usually needs about five.
Our sitter this time was the very patient and graceful Claire Ryan.we met at the foot of the hills at the Yellow house in Rathfarnham she was there with a friend Arni Haraldsson who joined us as we drove in convoy up Stocking lane towards the car park in Killakee.

DOWN BY THE FURRY GLEN

The Pheonix Park in Dublin is a pretty big place and no doubt about that.
Having said that I managed to find a place which meant something to our latest sitter Neasa O'Shea Brady
A place where she and her family have often walked and played in the many years they have been living near the park.
The Furry Glen is a little ecosystem within the park a small treelined valley with a pond and all the associated flora and fauna that goes with it. It is indeed a beautiful place and we found ourselves on the edge of it amongst trees Which according to an inscribed memorial stone were planted in 1878. Beeches and scotts pine formed our backround all which have become heavily inscribed over the years be lovers of life and grifitti.I wondered had Neasa an artist about to take flight for New York, ever made her mark .But, I was afraid to ask.Anyhow when that crossed my mind I had I had other things on my mind.

It was pitch dark and very difficult to set up the shot using only a couple of flashlights.But thanks to Artur,hugh and Mel O' Reilly(a new member of our troupe), and a lot of moving around by Neasa we got there eventually.
Neasa and four other friends are off to New york and mostly for the same reasons there is no work for them here in their chosen fields.I have photographed two of the group already Aoife O Donnell and Fiona O Keefe and all of them are off to New york and hope to get internships in the Arts.
They are a very motivated group and I wish them the best and I hope they get all they deserve in their new home,New York.
Things come and things go that's for sure, our country is in a state of disarray It looks like the two Brians, Batty,and the whole bunch of Mary's might be moving sooner than they think.
But one thing is sure that when the dust settles on this troubled era the Furry Glen will be as beautiful a place as it has always been,and the joy of the stroll through the woods is something I hope Neasa and her friends will see again,soon.


This is the last post from my current shooting list current and so I am appealling for new leavers once more
if you know of anybody about to emigrate from Dublin please send them this way.
there is a little video piece on youtube that will get the message across also my viewbook page
has all of the work without the text.
Please share this through the share buttons below and I would be delighted if you followed the blog using the networked blogs follow button on the top right of the page.

Please leave comments also as they really help to keep it real!

SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF!!

Irish identity as seen from a different perspctive is an interesting thing.
I wait with baited breath to see how C.B.S.portray the people I have shot and how that all relates to America and how it sees us in their world.
Two months ago my brother Ken sent me an email link to a very interesting B.B.C. article which he said related to my project!
Now it really does!
Let me explain the article was about the new wave of irish immigration into the U.K. and it was a very good, deep and reasonably historically accurate. It points out the differences of previous Irish waves and draws the conclusion that this wave will be the most rewarded(because of a change in sentiment towards the Irish).It talked to a couple of new Immigrants.
one of these was a person called Claire Weir.
Claire has been around the world since leaving Dublin last year,she spent some time in Australia where she saw my project and corresponded with me via email. Thinking she was still there you can imagine my surprise to see her name in the B.B.C. article.Later that month she mailed me to say she was home for christmas and she would like to be part of my project.See the interesting article here
She chose her old neighborhood of Portabello for the shot and we where both drawn to the clean and heavily loaded graphic by her old local pub.
I have followed Claires progress over the last year I can say she is a hard working Irish photographer looking to do what she does best and the opportunity to do this in ireland is not forthcoming.
So it was with great pleasure that Claire and I closed the circle last week when we at last met to take this glorious parting shot as she prepared return to London to take up a job doing stills for a t.v. production.
It is an interesting point of B.B.C. article that the Irish in this new wave carry themselves well ,and Claire is indeed one of these.
Artur Sikora and Hugh Mc Cabe dodged the traffic to light up the neighborhood and we got it all finished before the rain came down.
Remember to read the the article over at the B.BC.page,It makes me feel good to be documenting history as its being written, and to leave my mark in the records,no shame ,no regret!!!

Please follow this blog using the follow button on the top right.
Share on fb and twitter using the buttons below.
Comments are welcome and always responded too.
thanks
David