BEYOND LEAVING iii

 Beyond Leaving will be at exhibition in the National Photographic Archive, Temple Bar, Dublin,
from November to early March 2017. It is the biggest Irish platform to date for my work. The installation will feature some 25 new large scale photographic works, video, and artifact generated over the  period of net emigration from 2009 to 2016. Thanks to all who pledged support to the  Fund: it , campaign, although it is now finished you can see the details here click here to have a look



On the 24th of August 2016 the Central Statistics Office of Ireland ( CSO )made a very important announcement. It was this. To the year ending in April 2016 there was a return to net inward migration for Ireland for the first time since 2009.

The tone of this announcement is reflected in the global Irish Newsletter from the office of the Junior Minister with responsibility for the Diaspora in which the headline events are the Fleadh Cheoil, The Rose of Tralee, and the All Ireland Hurling and Camogie finals. Granted there is articles about the Irish Australian Support and Resource Bureau, Melbourne, Australia, and the upcoming United Nations Migration Conference, but the emphasis here is on the other and not the self.  And although the issues around Irish migration have proven to be thorny over the years, the discussion about world migration is far bigger than any conversation we could have about the current Irish experience. So this months newsletter amounts to one thing, deflection.
Although there is still the small mater  of the 76,200 people who left here in that year there was in fact the small number of 3,100 more people entering the country than those who have left.
This signals the end of a cycle.
We can now quantify the movements of this period. In fact the CSO has done this for us and I suppose having things  tied up neatly with a bow is what the we as consumers of the media and presented fact demand! I will only present one figure from the chart below and the rest can be extracted by your own gaze. The light blue of the period of net emigration adds up to half a million people.

Looking beneath the surface of the Irish experiences at this point is  an essential part of building an understanding of  of this period of net emigration. Following on from my personal project On Leaving, I have been working on a further research project with some of the recently departed and some of those who have chosen to return home. The work has been conducted as part of  IADT Dun Laoghaire practice led research project and I am grateful for the guidance and counsel of both Dr. Mark Curran and  Dr. Justin Carville as I move towards exhibition of these work.
The video clip above is a short extract of some conversations had with some of my collaborators.
 Thank you for reading this post and I would be delighted to receive your comments and of course your support  for the fundit campaign at http://fundit.ie/project/beyond-leaving

BEYOND LEAVING ii

Its been such a pleasure being back in an exhibition space, showing work, talking with those who came to see it, or who just ventured in after they had lunch in the building, or indeed, after they had visited EPIC. I am delighted and excited about the response to the work and feel assured that audiences will be very interested in the next step along this road to understanding what in fact it is to be a modern Irish person. Either here or there!
To this end I am now introducing Beyond Leaving  and the concept behind my next show. A couple of years ago now I set off on a new smaller, but a little more rigorous research, to try and fathom the distance between  expectation  and the reality of today for a small group of people who collaborated with me in the production of the Leaving Dublin series.
This research will culminate in a show in the National Photographic Archive this coming November.
The show will feature new photographic works, video, interview, audio-visual, and research documentation.
One strand of these works will be a series of skype interviews which have been made with collaborators. The clip here is demonstrative of the many ways that this kind of communications can be laborious and unfruitful and it can sometimes be hard to realise ones intent.However as              e-communication platforms expand there are now several alternative ways to talk with video  to people all over the world, facetime, whats app, facebook messenger video,  and google hangouts all look like making this area of communications easier and more fruitful into the future.

So here is my opener, my first piece so to speak.
I hope you enjoy it and what it has to say.
there is lots more to come in this stream.
Please like ans share and as alway your comments will be appreciated and replied to as they will help  to shape the process of making the exhibition.

With thanks
David

LUNCH WITH SOME ART ON THE SIDE?

The chq Building on Dublin's Custom House quay has recently being transformed  once more as times and peoples tastes change. From 19th century stack house, to  a Celtic Tiger born shopping mall in the early 2000's,  to a mixed use space including some retail, cultural spaces, and a very large tech co-working space called Dog Patch Labs. The most recent addition is Epic Ireland, which offers visitors Dublins most immersive visitor experience  as they explore the unique global journey of the Irish people.
It was with that in mind that the management of the chq building were approached and the idea of hosting a show of On Leaving was floated by my partner/producer Carole Caprani.  The team there were enthusiastic. It was felt that a certain amount of synergy could be harnessed by both exhibits which are indeed  proving to be complimentary.  The work was hung on Saturday and Sunday the 14th and 15th of May by Ian Monahan and Adam Abuzenan and the show opened it's doors to the public the following day.  I was in the USA for this first few days, (more about that in the next few posts), but returned on Friday morning in time for the opening reception which happened between 17.30 and 20.00 that evening. 
I was delighted that Irish Times journalist and curator of the blog Generation Emigration, Ciara Kenny enthusiastically accepted my invitation to open the show and she made some very good points about the common ground we share in telling the story of the individual. I would echo that our position is very important in  the age when people  are fed generalisations about things such as migration, migrant culture and the realities of modern life.  Series like Generation Emigration and indeed my work play an important part of debunking the myths spun out in other areas of the media 
which paint a monotone picture of our society. Testimony featured on Generation Emigration has played an important part in keeping the absent present in our  national consciousness  and for that we should all be very grateful.  

On the night although slightly jet lagged I really enjoyed showing the work to guests who had never seen the work before, and introducing the other strands of the piece to those who were only familiar with the leaving Dublin Series.  Indeed I have had three full days already in the space talking endlessly with enthusiastic viewers of the work who in some cases only ventured into chq just to get a bite to eat. In fact, nipping into chq for a bite to eat should be the start point.The work should be something there to  be discovered and in this location I am delighted to be the perfect filling to a lunchtime sandwich treat. There are indeed some great places to eat in the building and everyday the concourse is filled with happy workers from the offices and businesses close by doing just that.  I suggest you join them over the next two weeks and finish lunch off with a look at at ON LEAVING,  and maybe even a visit to the vaults which now house EPIC, the story of our diaspora and how it has shaped the world in which we live.

Big thanks to Paul Mc Carthy for the photos (I owe you one for sure) and to all who turned up on the night. I really appreciate it. Tune in here over the next few weeks for some tales of adventure. Please share and comment on this post below and get your friends together and go for a bite in the chq and drop in for a long (or short) discussion  with me, I will be there till 4th June 11.00 - 16.00 daily..

Thanks again to all
David

ON LEAVING

I am so delighted to be announcing the first showing of On Leaving In my hometown, Dublin, the place where the work for the large part was conceptualised and made.
True a component part of the project, Leaving Dublin, was shown there in the  National Photographic Archive as part of the photoIreland festival show Living-Leaving   in 2012. But the show of all three components of the greater photographic project did not come together until October 2013 when I was invited to assemble a solo show for Siamse Tire, in Tralee Co, Kerry.
As this show came together on site the plan for a book of On Leaving evolved over the stay in Kerry where I  designed and  then Installed the show with  the help of fellow photographer Lanka Perren. From that day my mission was to work on pulling the final components of the work together by traveling and making the remaining portaits and Landscapes  needed to cradle the texts which were slowly coming into view. It took a further year of travel and the intervention of superbly thought out design by Niall McCormack to bring the book On Leaving into existence. Terrifically printed by Nicholson Bass in Belfast  this book was named  the best printed book of the year In 2015 by the print industry of all Ireland.
 The Book On Leaving is the reason for this presentation of the work in Dublin. The existence of Epic Ireland in the vaults of the chq building the reason for showing the work  in this location. And the  time is now right  to show the work to a bigger audience  as it  appears things are returning to normal in Ireland at this time.
As we all know appearances can be deceptive so we have to be aware of all that has happened to the people of Ireland over the last eight years or so. On Leaving provides a lens through which we can look back over  this latest twist in the tale of the Irish Diaspora. During the period of the show the book will be available to contextualise the work which hangs in the large gallery space on the ground floor of the chq building.
I am grateful to  Carole Caprani who arranged the show and to Ian Monahan for   frame design,  providing the soundtracks to many manifestations of the work and  for  hanging the work with    Adam Abuzenan, and to  Pete Smyth for texting us up.

The book is on sale during the show period and I hope viewers of the exhibition take advantage of the special exhibition offer to push the book out throughout the world( it's a free postage offer)
I also hope that a a big group of you the readers of this blog turn up on the night of the launch on Friday the 20th of May 2016 to celebrate all of those people who took part and collaborated in the work that has become On Leaving. The work wil be introduced by Ciara Kenny, journalist and editor of the Irish Times Generation Emigration Blog
I hope to see you there!
Thanks
David

DISTANCE AND THE SMALL WORLD!

I am so delighted to have found this report on the facebook page of the Immigration Museum Melbourne, Australia, as it proves several things, That the world is a small place, That distances don't really matter where media is concerned, and that good work will be celebrated especially when it receives  accolade.The post can be studied in detail here. The report also points to the full site of the show hosted by the Immigration Museum in October 2012, The high point of my photographic career to date. Also contained on the site is the video report made especially for the Australian presentation.
The text of the post reads' David Monahan’s wonderful publication 'On Leaving' has won a major award at the Irish Print Awards. The now award winning publication followed on from the Leaving Dublin exhibition held at Immigration Museum in 2012.' It goes on to point to an article that the museum staff  found whilst trawling the internet. an article from the newspaper Newtownabbey Times.
A report based on a press release that two days earlier I had contributed too. And so the world goes round I speak some words down the phone to Peter in Mallusk ( A townland Name I had no knowledge off till I saw this report from Australia),He includes my input  in his press release, Its printed in the local newspaper in Newtonabbey, and then  its reported on in Melbourne in time for me to see it on face book.
Here is the text of the press release!

Mallusk firm Nicholson Bass won the much coveted awards for ‘Best Irish Printed Book’ and ‘Best Irish Printed Magazine’ at the recent Irish Print Awards, held in Dublin.

The book, ‘On Leaving’ by David Monanhan, is a photographic conversational piece depicting the current wave of Irish emigration following the economic crash in 2008.
The judges described the publication as “a truly classic book with excellent printing, binding and overall appearance.”
David Monahan commented: “When myself and accomplished designer Niall McCormack set out to find a printer for our project we had two key goals, to print it locally and to have the best result. This was made possible by the skilled team at Nicholson Bass and we had the impression on our first trip to Belfast that they were the best in Ireland. Now we have proof!”
‘Freckle’ is an independently published magazine celebrating the people and landscapes of Northern Ireland and beyond. It is all reproduced on recycled material.
Praising Nicholson Bass for their work on the publication, the competition judges said: “This magazine has everything, the look and feel are superb, the quality of the colours used and the reproduction is excellent.”
Jonathan Megarry, Managing Director of Nicholson Bass commented: “These awards are a true compliment to everyone in our business and rubber stamps all the good work that every member of staff has helped contribute to.
“It is genuinely enjoyable to work with customers who have the same passion for what they do as we do. Nicholson Bass are not just a printing company, we try to inspire and connect through the medium of print and projects like these do that.”


 Its great once more to make this kind of connection with the Immigration Museum, and I am delighted when evidence that their faith in my work was well placed.
Personally I am  also delighted for Myself, designer Niall McCormack, and of course  Nicolson Bass.
Together we produced the best printed book in Ireland of 2015. Fantastic.
If you would like a copy of this book which celebrates  the heroes of modern Ireland,( those who emigrated after the financial crash of 2008-9) I have a special end of year offer if you go to the site to purchase the book( onleaving.com) and use the code  smallworld 1 you will get free postage anywhere in this small world for nothing. This time at least distance will have no significance!

Oh, and please comment and share this post across your social networks, it could reach further!

ON EXHIBITION.

I am delighted to be once more on exhibition in two locations in two different counties.

The first is 4 week engagement in Raheny and Edenmore in Dublin. "Window to Eden'"is an exciting development in community arts which presents work of artists in a number of mediums in  presentations beyond the gallery space. The work hangs in two locations and is viewable by pedestrian who pass the windows where the work hangs in Raheny Library and at St Monica's Community Information Centre, Edenmore. The book 'On Leaving' is also available for inspection inside in the Library building.

Big thanks to Cindy Morrissey for the invitation to hang and for her invaluable assistance in putting the show together and following through to a super hang.

The second showing is happening, in Co. Kildare. The Illuminations gallery in N.U.I. Maynooth.

It's an all digital Gallery which shows work on a series of 8 screens. This is an ideal format for the showing of this work which had its first international showing in the form of projections back in 2012. In addition to the works then shown, there is a screen of images from the 'Empty Spaces' series,

the 'Visitation' projection originally shown at Slideluck Dublin in the summer of 2013,  and there is one other new piece which features the last nine shots of the 'Leaving Dublin' series which did not feature in the first version of the show and projection, ( as they where shot at a later date).

I am very grateful to Colin Graham who made everything very achievable, Mary Gilmartin and Jennifer Redmond for making the introductions and proposing the show. I am looking forward to meeting with students in early November.

The book 'On Leaving' is available on campus in the bookshop and of course online at onleaving.com 

I hope the work is well received and I look forward to announcing further presentations of the work here.

please share and comment below.

David

ON THE PAGE

Its been a long slow walk from there to here. It started in March 2010 and ended on December 11th 2014 with the Launch of the book ON LEAVING. The end of one journey so to speak , but the start of another. The volume has been produced and now it is my job to drive as many as I can to the site onleaving.com to buy this work, complete and sequenced as only a book can sequence a work in the way it was meant to be seen.This is the definitive presentation of this work and I am so proud of how it looks and feels in the hand.  In a very positive review Last week, photomonitor said the following of the work
Throughout On Leaving the notion of loss is successfully articulated in two different ways—visually and literally—and, more importantly, from two different perspectives. While Monahan’s night time portraits in Leaving Dublin and Griffin’s moving poem American Wake might focus on the individual in the face of uncertainty, Monahan’s desolate land- and cityscapes as well as his informal portraits speak of a collective loss: a loss for a family, or for an entire country. The loss Ireland suffered and is suffering today as a result of the Diaspora is mapped in the highly informative and equally poignant writings by Piaras Mac Éinrí, Noreen Bowden, and Jennifer Redmond, which accompany Monahan’s sophisticated photographs. On Leaving is both a valuable contribution to documentary and fine art photography, and an invaluable addition to the history of a people. ( Lisa Stein, photomonitor )

The fine work done by Designer Niall McCormack has to be seen to be believed and understood.
This book is a design masterpiece and it is bound together with a complex simplicity that adds so much to the work enabling it to shine a light on a phenomena of our times.

I want this work to penetrate and have impact through intimate networks of friends and individuals who have seen, experienced, touched and have been touched by this work. To that end I am offering
two volumes of the work up to you the readers of this blog who can direct traffic to onleaving.com.
Once you have yourself blogged,Posted,tweeted,facebooked,google+'ed, tumblered, or placed a link in the way of any audience you will be entered into a draw for a copy of the book on leaving.
This draw will happen once the work has found itself out there on one hundred posts.
All you have to do is post it and send me the details, either by mail to dmon@me.com, by fb message , or in the comments box below. Once the link is verified you will be entered in the draw.
Once the posts reach two hundred I will also make a signed and boxed deluxe edition of the work available by draw to all who have shared and encouraged traffic to the site onleaving.com

   I look forward to making the announcements  here and on face book and google plus when the work is won by two of you. Looking forward to your help in getting this work out there.

Thank you so much for all.

David

I Stand With so Much Behind Me Still Looking Out on the World

With the completion and publishing of the book ‘On Leaving’ a chapter has closed and I am delighted with the way that the act of publishing this volume has ‘book-ended’ this process in a way that punctuates my activities and my involvement in the issues surrounding modern day movement of people from my community.I now go forward with the accumulated knowledge that this process has brought to me as I immersed myself, absorbed in the pursuit of a finding a way of presenting a picture of this time and subject to you the readers of this blog, and indeed, to the greater public via the volume’ On Leaving’.

It would be true to say that my intention to start this project was not to  produce this volume. It would also  be true to say  that I did not envisage spending almost five years working solely  in this area, but this has proven to be then case! It would be truer to the facts to state that my concern initially was to make a dramatic photograph  of a single emigration for a family member. Whilst thinking of a suitable means of execution of  this duty it occurred  to me that a series of similar images  would indeed make an interesting social comment.

 From  that singular point of departure  the project On Leaving developed  exponentially and as time passed I  became more involved as I climbed its curve towards  the plateau that was to become the above mentioned publication. From this perspective, the now, I have a clear overview of all that this experience has brought to me and my  collaborators and I am set to investigate further, but from a now altered perspective and with a different way of evaluating what I find.

Let me explain. On October 1st last year (2014) I took up a research position in my old school
(IADT Dun Laoaghaire). I am currently pursuing the making of a practice led study on current Irish emigration which aims to ask a specific question.The question being:  In the case of  the current Irish emigrant, what  is the distance between expectation and reality? The answering of that question will involve the making of new artworks, (photography, moving image, soundscape) and it is envisaged that experiencing the works will add new depth to the understandings already arrived at by other academic investigations into the area of recent emigration.

A practiced led research study Is for this project, a novel and innovative way in which to look at this subject and should as a result of this new investigation from the practice perspective, add new depth to what is already known about this subject. Whilst it applies the full weight and responsibility  of academic research to the topic a large proportion of its study is given over to producing new works whose process and  creative outcomes demonstrate the generation of new knowledge. For me this means the grounding of all works on a solid base of all that has gone before. For you the viewer of these final works the reassurance that you will experience works as evocative as those I have produced in the past, but with an extra depth that may induce a desire to look deeper into the research that brought these works to life. An exhibition of this soon to be started practice component of this project will happen in early 2017.The physical work starts now.
See a great review of the book here  https://www.photomonitor.co.uk/15434/ see it , like it , share it!
See the book here! onleaving.com , buy it!

IT IS ALL HERE! RIGHT NOW!

Almost three years ago now I planned this video piece and prepared it in its first form for St Patrick's day projections around the world.Having finished  shooting the series in summer 2013 I re-edited the work to include all of the works ( the count went from 75 to 84in the intervening period)
This piece was used in the first On Leaving show in Siamse Tiré,Tralee,co Kerry.
With all the contributors thanked in the acknowledgements of the book On Leaving,  I felt the time was right for one final re-edit so as  to slowly name all of the sitters on a list in the form of the credits at the end of this piece.On the night it gave me such pleasure to see this come together. I beamed with pride to hear two fantastic pieces of music by my collaborator Ian Monahan Echo loud and sure all around meeting house square.
And so for all,of you who came down on the night a big thanks.For those of you who could not make it, the video played on the night is here and the book is available for immediate shipping from onleaving.com
I Have resisted placing this projection piece online till now, I hope you all enjoy it!
Please comment freely, It helps to work it all out!

LAUNCH HEROS NAMED!

Thanks to all who came down to the Gallery of Photography last Thursday(dec 11th 2014) it was a pure delight to meet and share all my good feelings for those who have been part of this, The On Leaving project.
Simple as that. It wouldn't have happened without all those named here in this short clip!
Please applaud them.
Much love
David

big thanks to Ray Hegarty for the vid!!!

ON RESCHEDULING

Just a short post to let you all know that the rescheduled date and time for the book launch is Thursday, December, 11th at 6 p.m.

projections to see, books to buy, and Christmas drinks to toast all the sitters of this amazing project.

Hope to see you all there.
Sorry if the rescheduling inconvenienced anyone,it was unavoidable!

David

IMAGE AND TEXT

I can't help getting excited about my upcoming adventures in publishing and it looks like this book, ON LEAVING,will be for me all about the way and ways image and text conspire to tell a story or to stay out of each others way.
You will get where I am coming from when  you get to see the book.Its all set to be launched in a week and a half's time at the Gallery Of Photography, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar. It Happens at 6pm, on Wednesday, November 26th.
Hope to see you there!
In the meantime you can check out Alan Pentony's images on previous posts right here.(and here)
As always comments are welcomed and sharing is now so important with such a big day for the project looming.
So please like, comment and share this to any one you may feel would have an interest.
For more details on the publication, see on leaving.com

CLOSER TO HOME

Hi all  I can't wait to get to the point of presentation. Details on the poster included here.
In short, Wednesday, Nov. 26th at 6pm at the Gallery of Photography.
See the post about Mick Reid here, It's a good one! It's all about the  hard choices we make in life.
I believe this man has made it home from Adelaide Australia for a visit. I am really looking forward to meeting him again. I know so much has changed for him. I want to hear about it!
David

ABOUT TO TAKE FLIGHT

Wow! It is such a thrill to be standing at this point in the process making it all work out.
Arranging for the launch of the book to happen.
The printing has by now taken place and from my few hours spent on the press pass a couple of days ago it seems like all will be good and we will have a book to be proud of in a couple of weeks.
This book is being made with the sole purpose of honouring the Heros, the men and women who had to leave this country in the midst of economic turmoil.Its a big undertaking and I hope lots of you turn up on the night to view and to buy this 304 page salute to the men and women who I feel are indeed our brightest stars shining for all of Ireland out there in the firmament.
keep an eye here for updates as we go and get closer to the date!
se the original Ciara picture here
David

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT!

Whats it all about indeed! Young Irish men and women scattered to the four corners of the world and left there. Left to their own devices and succeeding.We dont really have to worry to much!
They are an educated bunch for sure.They will have no problems getting on.
 But there are loads of serious questions to be asked and conversations to be had about this process.

TIME FOR ACTION

Aoife Mc Monagle,Toronto,Canada.

Greetings one and all.
Today I am sitting back and taking it easy after a marathon few weeks in which I covered a lot of ground.
You have seen some pictures from Sao Paulo already.
Since then I have travelled from Aoife in Toronto,on to Julie in Vancouver, from there to San Francisco to Sarah and on by car to Berkeley to se Jana and family.
From there on to Hollywood by car to see Brian and Aileen, then to Mexico to see Ara and Darragh, on to New York to Visit with Naoise,and then here to see Sean, Leia,Astrid and Sebastian.
This only leaves one visit to Akron,Ohio to visit Aoife Mooney the third of the three Aoifes in this now over four year long process.
Well now, when I say sitting back I suppose I mean not running off to the airport or car rental garage to move on after 12 or 24 hours in one place.
In fact I have been holed up in my old friends Eileen and Mark's house in Oak Park a short drive from downtown Chicago, planning the next phase of this insane adventure.
Whilst here I have taken the opportunity to process my films and I ran around today with Eileen to try and get some low res scans for this post.
We found a place but didn't have a week to wait for the results so what you see are the results of an improvisation with an iPad (lightbox), my Hasselblad and an extension tube.

Brian O'Neill,Hollywood,California,U.S.A.

Why such haste I hear you ask,why run around the place like a mad thing!whats the point in revisiting all these people!
Well its interesting you should ask!
 Back in December last is when this roller coaster ride started. I had a call from Solas Nua
asking if I would work with them to bring my show to Washington D.C. They had hosted the documentary Skin In The Game, a film in which my work featured and it had hit more than one of the key people in that organisation as interesting and very relevant to issues currently on the agenda in Washington.
Straight away I started planning and it very quickly became apparent that a book to Finnish the project and to present at the next set of exhibitions was the way forward.
  So here I am, again swinging from tree to tree trying to make it all work, knowing that a crash to ground is just one more vine away if I don't keep my wits about me.
Right now I have an active project on ,(click to see), Fundit.ie and Its Aim is to raise 50% of the cost of production of a self published book.
This Is where you,the readers of this blog come in.You know how long I have worked on this project,you know the quality of the work, you know the depth of information contained with in this blog regarding this insightful and historically significant work.
You Know that a three hundred page fully formed volume of this work would be a major achievement
and thus I am appealing to you to go to the fundit page(click here) and just Pre-order your copy.
By Paying for it up front you are ensuring that this project comes full circle in a timely fashion,the book gets produced and you get your copy at, or below the final cover price.

Ara Lopez,Darragh McMunn,Teotihuancan pyramid,Mexico

When I return home on the 23rd of may I will scan and present more  work from around the corners of this amazing continent.

Please share and let others for whom this work might be interesting know by sharing all relevant links

Thanks 

DAVID

A BEAUTIFUL BEGINNING TO AN END!

Last December I had an email that set me on a course. The mail an invitation to show work in Washington D.C. later in the year. The course, to finish the project I had been working on for the last 4 years and to have a publication ready for said expo when it happens.
If I knew then what I knew now perhaps I wouldn't have set myself such ambitious targets. Work, work, work has been my song ever since as I have studied, planned and executed phase after phase of what has been to date and what will continue till the end to be a life changing experience. It would seem that I have at least 4 components of this project moving in parallel at any given time.

THIS IS REAL,IT SINGS A SONG OF A MODERN IRELAND!

And so it goes.Time passes and as the picture unfolds we see ourselves ,ever changing ,ever-present in the moment,coping,changing,acknowledging,moving forward. For it is only in realising what has happened in the past that we can sustain ourselves into the future.
The future for a lot of our recent departees is that they will never live in Ireland again.
They will call somewhere else home,their children will adopt a different national identity,sure they will be proud of their Irish heritage this of course is true,for it is a proud heritage to belong to the kind of Oísin,Ná Fianna,Gráinne Mhaol,Brendan the Navigator,Wolftone,Emmet,Pearse,Connolly.
The Literary tradition of the scribes,Sheridan,Swift,Wilde,Yeats,Joyce,Flan O'Brien,Heaney, Griffin,etc,etc.But still they will never come home save for a holiday to spend some time in this magical pool the place to restore,renew,revive the feelings that make the Irish Irish.

DIVING IN!

Shot on a silent morning in Dublin on 4x5 transparency this shot stands as a reminder to all of us that when we leave we leave so much history behind,Personal,public,of home and of city.
This work is part of an ongoing series called "A survey for the departed"this survey sets out to remap the city and its environs specifically for those who have left and have been participants in the "Leaving Dublin" series.In this case the image was made specifically for Henning Koestler who I photographed there last summer on a hot evening late in june See the original post here

NEW DAWNS!

The Fury Glen in the Pheonix Park at dawn on glorious transparency film,5x4 inch transparency film.
This work is part of an ongoing series called "A survey for the departed" this survey sets out to remap the city and its environs specifically for those who have left and have been participants in the "Leaving Dublin" series.
In this case the image was made specifically for Neasa O'Shea Brady who I had photographed there
Over 3 years ago on a cold dark January night