LEAVING DUBLIN LAUNCHES TO A WALLSPACE IN A GRAND STYLE

wrapped

1/20 scale editing

THE POWER OF POSITIVITY!

There is a lot to be said for having a positive mental outlook, and no doubt about that!
Time after time I have met people, who when faced with adversity have triumphed because of their wish to have a life fulfilling. On this shoot I met a very positive young man who was about to leave for Sydney Australia. Conor Savage is an online manager for an Irish bookies,  Paddy Power.
They have recently acquired an Australian arm and need to lever Conor's expertise to make it happen efficiently on line. So without having to look for employment on arrival, without having to reskill, without having to sit grueling interviews, or work bars, or fruit pick until the right job comes along, Conor is out of here!! EASY!!

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!!
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David

THIRD TIME AT THE BERNARD SHAW

Before I start this post I must take the chance to wish Dar Crook the very best in Australia and I hope its all going well for him there. Due to a slight tricky edit I've decided to finish his parting shot off when I am feeling a little more in control (maybe by the week-end).
So it would appear to me that The Bernard Shaw is a very special place in Dublin, so far I have photographed 3 of my shots in and around its location in Portabello in the heart of the Village quarter.
I photographed a very excited Gráinne O'Sullivan in the alley beside the pub. This laneway runs right around the pub and is filled with an ever changing feast of street art.

The reason for Gráinne's excitement was that the following day she was away to London for a new life.
She was inside in the Bernard Shaw having farewell drinks with some friends while myself Artur, Brian and Mel got set up outside.
Grainne got in touch with me after she had seen a piece on RTE news about the project.
She has been out of the country a couple of times and of late has been finding it hard to get work in her field. She is a very special person and took on the establishment when she co-produced the site count me out.ie with Cormac Flynn & Paul Dunbar, a guide to help people opt out of the Catholic Church, which was recently covered in the NewYorkTimes. So now she is off to London and appart from friends and family, I dont think she is going to miss Dublin life too much.
We have a lot of hard times ahead here and if she ever needs reminding of this its only a short one hours flight time away!!
Things are pretty awful approaching our elections as the media try very hard to push voters into one camp or another. My hopes for our election is that there is an overwhelming rejection of the establishment and the Irish voters push a lot of independent voices into the Dail (Parliament). Then, we can prove that we count and are pissed off with how we have been misrepresented, and we did not then, and don't now accept the lines we were and are now still being fed day after day after day.
Dutch T.V. just pushed out this piece and guess what it focuses on - the single biggest issue. Emigration.

Lets make our politicians pay at the ballot box for this and lets hope we can slow it down!!
Big thanks as always to Artur, Brian and Mel who lit up the art in style.
And indeed to Saskia and Peter for giving us a voice in Europe.
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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.

THE STRANGEST OF SYNERGIES

This post is a tad late. So apologies if you have been waiting around anticipating the third chapter in my three shots in a week post!!
I have to admit that right now I am awe struck at the pattern of events that have conspired to become this moment, when so many forces have pulled together to catapult my mind and my leaving Dublin project of into a higher dimension. Allow me to explain.

Aoife O Donnell is 'leaving Dublin', she is off to New York.A graduate of the D.I.T. photography school on Meeting house square,she shares with me a passion for photography and many happy memories of time spent on this square and in its environs.Aoife said "I am leaving Ireland primarily for personal adventure but also to further my career in photography. I plan to take up a

photography related internship in New York City for a minimum of 14 months with a view to extending my stay or to then travel the world. Having lived in Chicago for a period in 2008 I found considerably more opportunity to train and work in photography than in Ireland. As a recent graduate I now have the opportunity to obtain a working visa for The States so I plan to return there in January 2011.It has been an ambition of mine to live for an extended period in New York since I was 15 and this potentially could be my one and only chance to do so."

She spent 3of the last 4 years here in the D.I.T. building ,In talking with her last night I realised that I had been associated with the Photographic archive ( the building at her back)for the last 12 to 13 years.
It is a sad truth that the three of us (Aoife,the archive,and I),are all leaving our pasts behind us in this Square and Moving on!

The Square was set up as a result of enlightened policy to pull film, art, and photography institutions together in one place and to allow them to synergise for the benefit of all involved in these complementary disciplins.On the square was The ark,the Gallery of Photography,the Irish Film Institute and cinemas,The National Film Archive,The National Photographic Archive,The Gaiety School of Acting,and The D.I.T.photography School.Close by there was a music venue (now called the button factory),Film base,Temple bar Galleries and Studios,And the Project Arts centre.
As far as photography is concerned I think the synergies kicked in last year when recent graduates of the D.I.T school and others,united all the strands of involvement in Photography and set up the Photoireland festival.What a blast that was.It showed how Ireland was now ready to take its place and stand shoulder to shoulder with the rich photographic cultures that exist in Europe, the Americas,and the rest of the world.
Sadly the Photographic Archive for whatever reasons has chosen to retreat to its early nineties position and become once more The photographic collections of the National Library of Ireland.
This Quiet retreat is reflected in the libraries website were all traces of the previous National Photographic Archive have been removed to be replaced by this Introduction to the photographic collections.
I am deeply saddened personally,and see this as a backward step culturally for Ireland in a European and worldwide context.The exhibition space remains open for the moment but soon enough the square could start to fragment with its loss.
However I suppose it is the reduction in work volumes in the last few years that has me chasing personal projects, so for this I suppose I will be eternally grateful.
Back to the images above!The reason we are here.
Aoife as I said earlier is off to New York,and C.B.S.news was interested to make a story around my project.They saw it as a fresh way of showing the return of the age old Irish tradition of emigration,and they were also interested in talking to someone who was moving to the U.S.A.
So up to this point my project was free flowing governed only by its participants with no outside agencies timetabling shoots.
However once we had Arranged to hook up with C.B.S. a date was set for them to interview,Aoife,myself,and to record the goings on at a shoot.
The shoot was set up for friday dec 17th,and low and behold the polar express was being projected on the squares screens that night for an eager christmas audience.
It would have been cutting it to tight to wait till after the square was put back in order after the show so we decided to move the shoot to another part of temple bar(Essex street)
This proved to be crazy busy (as you may see when the video piece is aired later next week),
and as a result I was not totally satisfied with the result.
In consult with Aoife we decided to have a second go,but at the original site chosen by Aoife on meeting house square.
After looking at the final images I realised that the first shot is totally fine,and my dissatisfaction was actually caused by not making the shot at a site so sacred to me,And indeed to Aoife.
We both indeed have lived a lot of our life in this unique square,and now it is a part of my own portrait of a city left behind, and part of Aoife's past.

So many strands coming together at one time have left me a little phased,but on we go propelled by synergy!!
Thank you If you have managed to stay with this post from the start,its a long one!
Please let me know which image works best for you,via the comments box!
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Brian Daly,Artur Sikora,and James Lillis,covered the Essex street shoot.
Whilst Artur Sikora,and Hugh Mc Cabe,handled the rather slow,(due to a crappy mac issue), meeting house square shoot.Big thanks again to them!! And to Dan And Tanya at the Gallery of photography for enabling me to light up!!
david

THIS CITY REALLY SUITED ME

Its been a very strange week or two.Ice and snow covered dublin and our great dictator continued dictating as if his tenure was assured no matter who he alienated.

On Tuesday we had a budget and I was delighted to be busy for the day.

The other Brian was on his feet at 3.45, I was finishing preparations for a class I was to give at 6 o clock.

All went well and afterward I drove direct to grand canal dock ,waited in the cold and was joined first by Artur,then Brian Daly.Gemma then arrived with Martina a friend and the subject of the nights shoot.

When Hugh Arrived we set off across the canal and got on with our business of the day.

Celebrating the greatness of another leaving this city.

I Missed it all,Lost in the glory of photography for hours!!

Here is what Martina had to say

"I'm returning back home, to the north-east of Italy, and I've lived in Dublin for the last 6 months. I worked in an art gallery and I fell in love with Dublin again.

I first came here in 1999 for a holiday and I always wanted to return and live here for a while. After such a long time (more than 10 years) I made it happened and it's been the realisation of a dream.
I could say that my favourite thing here are the people.
Irish people are unbelievably warm when you have the opportunity to know them.
I had a great time here and I feel grown as a person and ready for new experiences like this one. Believe me or not, I'm really going to miss this city and the last 6 months spent trying to be a dubliner...this city really suited me."

The one thing that sustains me through this very difficult fabrication in which we now live is the work that I do for my love of people and their spirit.The vast majority of people here in ireland are trapped in a shrinking world whilst those who choose to leave slip into a bigger space filled with hope and expectation for a good life ahead.

I wish them all success and thank them all for pausing a while with me,someone who wishes to celebrate their brilliance as they move on to greater things.

Now lets commit this entire cabinet to history.

Comments appreciated!!

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thanks to all

David

Oscar makes the arrangements by phone!

To start I have to say sorry to Jana Andrew,and especially to Oscar.

When I left them last tuesday night I told them I would be editing the next morning as I was expecting a call re work later that day!

Well I started to edit and the phone rang at about  eleven o'clock and i haven't had a minute to myself till now

Could this be the start of the recovery we have all being waiting for?

I don't think so,but its great to be busy again if only for a little while!

So its late sunday night/monday morning and I am delighted to say this edit has worked out well 

and shows Andrew Wilson, Jana Vourgourakis,and Oscar wilson,all of who are leaving any day now to return to Los Angeles.

For the adults of this party its a return home but for little Oscar its a trip into the unknown.

 Living in Dublin has been his longest stay in any city  so far,so Los angeles is going to have to show him parks at least as good as St Stephens green and the Ivy gardens,(both just across the road from where they have lived for the last year).

Jana picked Camden lane as the set for this shot as she enjoyed playing here with Oscar on their way to and from town.That said it has a different feel to it at night as it is right beside a couple of nightlubs and a large bar

Although they knew on arrival that they would be only here for 1 year both Jana and Andrew really enjoyed living and working in Dublin and are sad to leave it.

I wish them the best of luck back home and hope that their life journey takes them back here again so as Dublin can benefit once more from their company!!

Brian Daly,Artur Sikora,and Hugh McCabe lit up the night,whilst several happy dubliners passed us by on their way here and there!! 

Remember for the purely visual you can trip over to my viewbook portfolio site where I have a page dedicated to this project (among others)

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LOVE IT, HATE IT,SOME DAY YOU MUST LEAVE IT!

Wow,what a busy week that was.
There is no doubt that most of the population wished they where leaving Dublin this week
after the babblings of our Taoiseach.
What a guy!!
but he wont go away without a big sloppy fight,thats for sure!!
For me it was 4 trips to the 40 foot in Sandycove, Dublin,to case the scene for our latest caper.
Leaving us was Bernard Tyeres, A telecoms expert on his way to better things in London.
Let us wish him well!
this is some of what he had to say about leaving Dublin.

"I'll miss the good things about

Dublin (tasty Guinness, rashers, sausages, the 40ft Foot), but it's time to

experience some more of the world.

There are plenty of things I won't miss, but overtime I'm sure I'll forget them.

I'll be sad to be moving a little further away from my family, but in the world of

modern communications, I will probably be closer in some ways. And London

is only 50 minutes on a plane.

For me I have always had a love/hate relationship

with Dublin. When I wasn't here, I enjoyed coming back, when I was here, I

always enjoyed leaving.

Dublin has changed immensely in the past 11 years, in some ways good,

(walk down Grafton street and listen to the languages spoken, more cultural

differences, a change in mentality),and alot of ways bad (ridiculous property

developments, the whole Celtic tiger “I deserve it” mentality, living on credit,

terrible wastage of public monies, politicians continuing with the small-minded

attitudes), but it still has along way to go."

The 40 ft is surely one of the most magical locations used so far on this project.

The constant stream of air craft on flight path to dublin airport,

the ferries arriving and departing,

the bailey lighthouse flashing you every minute,

all of these things are screamiing for your attention,

but very quickly you are absorbed into the the environment and you loose your self in the beauty of this ancient secluded bathing place.

Whilst there I met fellow photographer Barry Delaney see his work here

Artur,and Brian again played a stormer,with Louise Roden coming along out of curiosity!

Don Sheehan helped put the final part of this work together.

To all of them, Bernard included, I am very grateful.

Big thanks Again to Noreen Bowden of Global Irish who has helped to shine a light on this blog and especially the Leaving Dublin project.

Thanks also to Darragh Shanahan for the lead on this one.

And Finally, lets hope Mr Cowan finds his way home!!

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Thanks

David

MOVING QUICKLY

Some days life throws you a ball and you have to run with it.

Up till now most of the "leaving Dublin" process has taken at least a week to a week and a half to get together. The final work really benefits from the process of planning and consultation with the sitter.

last weekend however,I picked up a lead form the Gallery of photography facebook page and followed it on to find that the persons involved where away for the weekend and leaving for Australia(via south Africa) two days after they returned to dublin.

So thanks to mobile phone email and facebook contact I was able to chat to Rae about location,

scout it on sat,post pics on monday,and make a decision that nigh on a location.

Last evening We met for the first time at the Suir rd luas stop on the Grand Canal.

Rae Green and Her husband,Clay Crighten are heading back to clay's home town of Rockhampton Australia,stopping off at South Africa for 5 weeks along the way,for one last adventure.Then Its back to find a new home and try to build a quality life.The type that is difficult to carve out in a slowly stagnating Ireland at the moment!

Good luck and good fortune to you both It was a pleasure to work with you on your last assignment before the flight!!

Techniccally we took a slightly different tack than usual because of the location.

we used on snooted bowens light as our main light, a barn doored (improvised by Brian and Artur) pair of metz 45's from behind to give depth to the sitters(you gan see some higlights on clay's neck and Rae's cheek,they are subtle yet significant).

All this was combined with a shutter speed of 1 second to allow some burn in from the ambient lights.

then we added some small sharp details from a 10 second exposure for a little more depth.

After the final edit a bleach bypass filter set to 30% opacity was applied on a layer.SO THERE!!

As always Artur Sikora,and Brian daly took it all in their stride And Hugh Mc Cabe Arrived ahead of us to welcome Ray and Clay on set.

A BIG THANKS TO ALL

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MAN ON THE MOVE

Its been a really busy couple of weeks and I seem to be working longer hours than ever. But that all draws to an end soon, and I am really looking forward to travelling back to Bretagne to join up with Carole and my own Little Gráinne(who is actually getting bigger)

I had great photographic fun there in june and I hope to find the same form when I return.

The main reason for my busyness was I managed to secure a job to prepare and print the next exhibition for the national photo archive. Its all done and away at the framers right now so please if you are around Dublin from early august please drop in have a look.The exhibition is called 'Power and Privilege " and takes a revealing look in and around Irish stately homes.

I was very Privileged myself to make a second trip to the home of Conor mcMahon,a man on the move,so to speak.

In a few short days Conor is Packing up and moving to England.

He is going to work for a company that he has done consultancy work for in the past,but as consultancy work is drying up slightly here ,he has decided to take a salaried job,and go where the work is and so Surry is his destination.

I was suprised at first with Conors assertion that his back garden was his favourite place in Dublin and that is where he wished to be photograph.But after a long chat I fully understood that he was very proud of the fact that he had bought and renovated and cared for his own living space and he was really going to miss it most of all when he left.this is what he said specifically about his house" The house is my home and the store of all my effort this last few years. A place to get together with the lads to work on the tunes, or other times where I might draw, conceive new ideas for my next exhibition. It is also my home in this cul-de-sac neighbourhood where I have found myself very much part of the extended neighbourhood family that I became part of 7 years ago now."

May good luck go with you Conor and thank you for this challenge which forced us into a corner from which we had to come out fighting!!

Once more Artur,brian and Gemma made the job not so lonely as I fumbled for a few minutes with a dud set of batteries.All those cool heads saw us right in the end and we where ready to shoot by 11.00..

As I said at the start of this post its been a busy few weeks but its been great to have the space to organise and to shoot three amazing people in three very different locations.

OH LET THIS PROJECT ROLL ON!!

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ACTUAL LIFE

Good things come to those who wait!
or so the saying goes!
Last monday night,I arrived at Heuston station just after dark.

Only to find it open with a train arriving at 11.45 from cork.
I had been down the previous sunday on a look see and it was closed so i assumed this was the deal every night(not so)
As it happened The station being opened did not effect the shoot in any way.
A little later I was joined by Artur and then Brian and we waited in the car for our co-conspirator Soraya Beyer.
On ariving in Ireland 2 years Ago Soraya(from Dresden,Germany)was put to work by her new employer in the Zumo smoothie bar in Heuston station,hence her affinity with the building.

When myself and Soraya reviewed the test shots from my look see we both settled on the portico
as a good location to make this glorious parting shot.
Unlike any other part of this very well known dublin building,It had a fresh comforting,unfamiliar appeal at this particular perspective.

Soraya had come to Dublin after completing her studies,
she craved a break from academic life.
She wished to discover somewhere new,find an uncomplicated job,something to fund her through a long break,a kind of holiday from her actual life.

I know when she looks back at this photo in years to come she will understand everything about the reality of her stay here and how it actually filled in the Gaps for her as she progressed from student to teacher.
Her reason to return to Germany came all of a sudden as she was offered a teaching post she understood would not come her way.

As always this shot was powered by a bowens flash head and battery pack,2 pocket wizards,and of course Brian Dalyand Artur Sikora

It has taken me till friday to make a space to edit this work,
but the wait was worthwhile!
thank you Soraya,and good luck with your recently renewed actual life!!
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Tales from the promised land

Last monday night I have to admit I was on a bit of a high.After a week of the amazing photoIreland photofest It was a delight to move on to another phase. The act of making,
Rather than looking.
(that said I am really looking forward to photoireland 2011)
I met Jacinta sheerin last year when a freind asked me to do a publicity photoshoot for an upcoming play.
It turned out Jacinta had co-written and played one of the lead roles.The play waiting for ikea.was a fringe hit and subsequently had successful runs in 2 other dublin theaters.
The same friend on hearing of my project suggested I contact Jacinta again as she was planning to move to London.
This i did last friday she was in Galway till sunday,and moving on tuesday.
Loving the work already shot she agreed to make her self free to shoot monday night.
Now thats painting yourself into a corner!!

She mentioned some grafitti that spoke to her in volumes about social reality in Dublin
and so I went to check out her suggestion!
Saturday and sunday afternoon were spent dodging showers and checking out the angels to find the perfect perspective.
Pinned that down then drew up a plan.
As always Artur Sikora,and Brian Daly were on hand to light up the night,Gemma Geraghty was charged with keeping us all invisible(a job completed with a little help from the Gardaí)
On a technical front we definitely pushed the gear as far as it could go and there was a part of the building we could not light because the little pocket wizards could not do the distance and pass thru walls as well.
To allude to the process of this and all of the leaving dublin shoots to date I have included a little video piece made up of the layers as they where seen on the ground.Leaving dublin is a documentary piece and is shot at night on location,the scene tripodded the set lit with one flash head ,a little bit at a time!
I hope it serves to add to the understanding of this a complex work.
My warmest thanks again to all who have sat for me at this a very emotionally charged time of their lives.
please comment,oh it helps!!
also if curious you can click the title at the top of the page for details of the social redevelopment that has never happened!!

GOING PLACES

Myself,Artur,brian,and Hugh, took to the streets of Dublin a week late after rain had stopped play the previous tuesday.
Our objective to shoot a glorious parting shot for the Flood_Kettunen family.

They are david flood,minna Kettunen,and 10 month old Matilde Flood.After working in the I.T. sector during the boom David spent the last 4 years in college as a student of photography. He made some money during this time teaching digital practise with the Gallery of photography and the V.E.C.
His Partner Minna worked till Matilde arrived as a media specialist with Microsoft.
They have decided to ride out the recession in Finland, Minna's home country.They reckon the cost of living,the prospects for work,and the level of social service,all make Finland a much better place to be right now.
no difference with technique from the previous shots.the quirky composition is designed to give parity of esteem to all,whilst trying to say there is always a part of you that does not want to leave no matter how much you need to!!
Again nice helpful dubliners where encountered! I have got to say a huge thankyou to the staff of the bistrot, castle market
( go visit!!)
who coffeed us up, and allowed use their outside area as a base!!



david floods graduation show launches next friday details here
its a show that i have not missed for the last 10 years and is always full of top class work,I am hoping this years will be as good as always!
Talking of good shows I've just been to the opening of griffith college's first photography degree show
A fantastic display of work of,showing the many facets of photography which synergise to praise the photographic act in all its diverse forms.
See it if you can over the next few days!!
Coming up also in july is Irelands first photo festival,it has a great line up of over 20 venues and 50 photographers showing all over Dublin details here
All in all i would say we are all in for a busy summer.


Lastly for thos of you interested in a good photographic course the gallery of photography is hosting Kim Haughton who is giving an introduction to documentary photography course over four thursdays from june 24th(places are limited to 6 and fill up fast!!) you can see some work from previous participants here