ON OBSERVATION!

I was delighted to be asked last friday to speak at the launch of the Griffith College Graduate Photography Exhibition.
It was a fantastic night with great work and very well attended.On the night I was phased by a very well researched intro about myself(twas very strange,but indeed gratifying to hear my own words quoted),the Heat of the heaving Auditorium,and crowd hum.The Net result of this was that I paused mid flight for about 20 seconds and jumped straight to the end of my prepared short talk.
The thrust of my message was to encourage the graduates to continue the great work they had achieved with this show and I feel from feed back on the night they got the message.
However there were some things I only pointed at and now I will expand on those for the record!


Last year I attended the first graduate show of this program and was blown away!
The same is true of this years show.In short the work acknowledges the many facets which exist in modern photography without getting hung up on any one.These strands are then skillfully held together with technical skill and proficiency with the medium underlying all works.
The course program is skillfully put together as to allow participants to freely explore their desired area whilst acquiring the skill sets to propel them forward into the profession of photography!
There is no doubt that more colleges will have an eye to the model honed by the course authors at Griffith, and I await with some pleasure to watch outputs mutate as other students are unfettered from the restraints previously placed upon their creativity.

It is interesting that the photoireland festival had its first year last year also and my interest there was also to observe the level of diversity present in the works presented.I look forward to see this festival grow and as it does it should raise the profile of photography amongst the Irish audience.

The Photographic industry in ireland has been in a state of flux and over the last few years I have really felt things shift dramatically.Just as in the Print and Publishing sectors in the Eighties the lines between photography,design,(web and print)and other areas of business have been blurred to a point that it was assumed that because the tools of photography where more accessible than ever,any creative type with access to these tools could multitask to provide a total solution for customers at a reduced cost.
I am glad to report that I see a shift in opinion as business and agencies realize the truth of this false economy is a fall of standards in output.
Just recently I met with a recent photography graduate who has, in a turn around, been employed full time by large Dublin based Auction house as their in-house photographer. These type actions are the seeds of change and I foresee several more positions emerging for graduates in the future.

For my own part I have only recently reconnected with my own desire to create personal work along with the desire to make a living from photography.This should not have been the case.Now I realise the importance of personal work as being central to my practise as a photographer and I would encourage all to keep on shooting and working on the great work started on their college course,in the longrun this kind of practise can only be good for your spirit and your career as it creates another facet to your person and indeed to your professional persona
I have to thank the economic slowdown in Ireland for affording me the time to spend working on my own projects . I must point out to all that time spent shooting work if equalled with time spent promoting this work via the internet will grow for you a profile beyond your first imaginings.
The secret of success in this area is to be diligent,frequent, positive in content and interesting.
Thanks to all on the night ,the graduates and Staff at Griffith

I hope this post reaches my intended audience of the night and beyond and clarifies the intentions of my strangled address.
please pass it on!!
thank you
david

UNDER THE BRIDGE

I have to say this project is bringing me closer to a lot of people.People I would never have met otherwise.
It has given me the opportunity to pause,chat,and to know and understand some of the complexities of modern life.
Also I have made an intimate study of certain parts of this city in an effort to come up with a fresh perspective and this has totally altered the way I feel about, and now look at,my own home town.

SHELTER FROM THE MADDNESS AND RAIN!

When I started the process of shooting work for the Leaving Dublin project I expected at some point or another to meet a problem on the streets.But to date this has not been the case. In fact I would go so far as to say every one we met along the way were interested and supportive,the worst you could say of any one person is that they were unconcerned or indifferent.
This cycle I am afraid came to its end on a recent shoot where we met less than hospitable people.
Ironically it was the closest shoot to my own home I had ever planned in a part of town I thought to be inhabited by the nicest you could meet.
How wrong could you be!

But Hey this was Henrieta Street, and I fully understand that on several occasions the natives have been corralled into their homes by large film crews waving city council permits granting them permission to shoot footage for hours on end.

Our shoot would have taken 20 minutes after setting up,we where 4 people in a family saloon car with one flash head and a tripod.
How ever once the flash had tripped once two crazies approached us to enquire what we where doing.
I answered in a friendly manner,and was quickly told you can't do that here.(we where disturbing their sleep,at 9.45pm.and their street was private property)
From the tone of the conversation that followed I realized we were talking to a couple of mentally disturbed cranks who needed to get their way so we decided to leave rather than to trade insults(one of them had been rude to our sitter as she explained why we were working there)
In the meantime rain had started to fall so we retreated to my house for a cup of tea and a strategy meeting!!
Our Sitter on this occasion was Meghan mac Lachlan, A young woman who recently left Dublin for Seattle in the U.S.A.Meghans mother is Irish and she had done a lot of research into her family tree and had uncovered addresses occupied by family members in the past,2 on Henrieta street,one on Bolton street,one on Dominick street,and on the other side of town Crampton place and Dawson street.
She was anxious to shoot at one of these sites and I had tested a few of them out in the research phase.
However Rain was our real enemy on the night,had we not been disturbed it would have been all done before the rain started,but now we had a problem.
You see Meghan was leaving for Seatle early the next morning and her shot at this stage was looking doubtful.
She then had an idea, a place dear to her grandfather was close to the dropping well pub in Windy Arbour and it should be sheltered from the rain.
So of we went into the night blindly.
We arrived on set at 11.30 and the rain still coming down, Meghans hair was wet from the walk and she set about drying it while we set up.It was a slow process that night and I have to commend the patience and Ray, Artur and indeed Meghan,their commitment to the process always on full tilt.
We left the site glowing with a great sense of achievement at around 12.30 with another great shot from this series in the bag.
Thanks again to Artur Sikora,Ray Hegarty and Meghan for all their help and resolve on the night.
And a special thanks to the two dudes from Henrieta street who inspired us to new heights of creativity in finding a solution to the problem of finding shelter from the madness and the rain.
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thank you

David

a short post on printing

In the world of high end of digital printing Epson have ben pushing the standards for years.

Until the introduction of their pigment inksets some years ago it was hard to have work with this origin accepted by museums and collectors as archivally sound.Once this landmark was reached however all was changed

As time has passed the quality and longevity has surpassed most other commonly used processes including c-type prints, and Lambda prints.

When used in conjunction with fibre based acid free papers prints from this process are resistant to fading for up to a hundred years far surpassing the expected life of Lambda or c type prints.

How ever in a world where so many other manufacturers products have the same initial appearance it has become very important to have a system where standards are set achieved and recognised by bodies collecting ,distributing,and producing fine art prints.

Such a system has been developed by Epson,which sets standards for achieving museum quality prints,

In edition,produced by print studios who adhere to strict guidelines regarding materials and technique.

The Digigraphie System first launched by Epson in France some years ago has been recently launched in the rest of Europe,and I am delighted to announce today that I have been accepted as user of this system.

heres how it works!!

The use of the term Digigraphie relates exclusively to a print produced :

- by a 7900 or 9900 model Epson Stylus Pro professional printer,

- with Epson Ultra Chrome TM inks,

- on certified art papers from Epson, Somerset, Arches, Canson, Hahnemühle, etc,

- authenticated : numbered, signed by the artist, marked with the official relief stamp and accompanied by its certificate.

If one of these four obligations is not complied with, the printed work cannot, in any case, be qualified as Digigraphie. This obligatory qualification is the guarantee, for the artist as for his clients, of ensuring the fidelity and permanence of the reproduced work (estimated to be 60 to 100 years as per tests carried out by various independant institutes).

MORAL COMMITMENT

The Artist undertakes, in the context of the use of the Digigraphie label, to exclusively produce works in limited series. The concept of limited series is defined by three criteria freely determined by the Artist :

- the number of proofs reproduced,

- the format of the reproduction of the artwork,

- the support on which it is printed.

Pictured above is a stamp made by my personalised embossing tool baring my artists mark D.M.
See my earlier post re printing here

IS IT ALL ABOUT WORK LIFE BALANCE?

I suppose it was only a matter of time before we ended up smack in the centre of Dublin outside the G.P.O.
It happened last week on a thursday night and timing was critical as one of my subjects Ara Lopez was off to Mexico the next morning.Rain had cancelled the shoot the night before and I am indeed grateful to Ara and her Irish boyfriend  Daragh Mc Munn for agreeing to come to town a second night so close to a departure.

THE LONG HAUL!

When I started this project I was concerned that it would take some time,and indeed,it would take some numbers if I was to include all the many colours of people leaving our shores.Young ,old,male female,families,maried,single,friends,professionals,tradesmen,students,couples.
Now that I have over 40 shots in the series I can see the project being filled with people from all of these sections of our society.
If I can continue a little further I feel that the Leaving Dublin project will represent a true picture of all of the different groups who felt the need to leave these shores.
A real achievement awaits!!
A couple of weeks ago now I met with Tom,Nina,Isaac,Kael,and Sophia Scott  a family reluctantly making preparations to move to the U.K.(the 4th family to dates see 1 and 2 here 3 was the last post!)

ON THE NEED TO PROVIDE SHELTER!

It was an absolute pleasure to meet with Seán Ó Dálaigh and his beautiful wife Leia Uí Dhálaigh a couple of weeks ago.

Leia was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and found it tiring to make arrangements to move to Rotterdam in The Netherlands. They where going there because Seán, a web designer, who had gone through redundancy three times in the last year, was offered a job in HR & logistics for an engineering company. With no immediate prospect of work here Seán had been volunteering at the Gallery of Photography, in Temple Bar, which is how we were introduced.

He was enjoying the experience when the offer of full time work came through. These are the lengths you must go to in order to provide for a family, making decisions quickly when faced with the stark reality of how you survive into the future. Within six days of the offer being made they were packed up and gone!!