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

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david

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!!

GRADUATE AND GO AWAY!!

There is no doubt about it.One of the largest groups Leaving Dublin are young graduates.
On the eve of our general election last week I met with Michelle Ellis and Claire Mc Dermott.
Michelle(left in our image) is a graduate of commerce and has recently been awarded a masters degree.
Even with this postgrad qualification she remains unemployed and as she put it, in an effort to remain positive about her future,she is leaving for Vancouver Canada.

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

ELECTION SPECIAL 2

I am sitting to write this entry tonight after the count on election 2011 has given us an indication of how things are going to be in the next Dail.

The ruling Fianna Fáil party have suffered huge losses after two and a half years of blatantly ignoring the people and arrogantly making decisions that could only be justified by their wish to remain in power until the corner was turned. Right now it would appear that the corner is further away than it ever was and whoever forms the next government has a long struggle to get us anywhere near to that corner before the next election.

One person who could not wait around for the election or the turning of that corner is Darren Crook.
I met with Darren and his father Terry on Howth Harbour County Dublin. For me it is a very special place and once more my past overlapped with the wishes of my subjects to locate their shot at a location special to them. Knowing the area I knew exactly where Darren was talking about when he mentioned fishing with his father and I was excited that he might like to set things up on the huge curved terraced wall at the end of the pier.

Talking with his farther Terry it was very obvious that he was very sad to see his son, the second in a week , leave and go to Australia. I suppose that life is going to be a lot different for Terry and what remains of his family and they will dearly miss Darren and his brother Brian. However there is another side to this process and Darren was in contact with me after his departure to fill me in. Its obvious from his words that he is filled with hope for the future and a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders, in Dublin he was a mechanic, in Australia he has started his working life picking fruit and has this to say.

"Me and my da used to fish Howth lots during the summer months, not as often as we used to in the last couple of years, we started doing more further afield, but we'd always get a least one session in Howth in the year. Definitely see myself fishing out in Howth again, don't ever see myself living in Ireland again especially after getting a taste for the lifestlye over here, but can't see myself going home to see my dad without throwing in the lines."

Thanks Darren hope it always sunny for you in Oz, and if Noreen Bowden and the good people at Global Irish have anything to do with it you might have a vote in the next general election without having to come home!!
Well done Mick Wallace and all the Independent voices who made it through the election process.

In another plus for this project the Belgian newspaper De Standaard Published 5 of this series today in their weekend magazine. I will put it up when I get a pdf next week!!

Or you can find a screen grab on my fb page

Hugh, Artur and Gemma where with me on this one and all work was completed with their usual efficiency. Big thanks as always to them.
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Thanks again
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.
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big thanks to all
david

TIME FOR CHANGE

There is no doubt in my mind that there are several levels of need within our society at present.
But more and more I am coming across people who's need to subside far outweigh's their need to reside (here). This for me is very sad! but, I suppose we must take heart in the strength of the people leaving these shores, as they take with them a desire to succeed which will carry them through onto new levels of achievement.
Last week I met with Graham Ford, after much internet banter about locating his shot we finally agreed that, if open on the night Belgrave square Rathmines would be the place to shoot. Happily the gate I had used previously was still unlocked so we were in.


Here is what Graham had to say
" I worked in Dublin as a mortgage administrator, then as a legal assistant before finally being asked to work as assistant accountant, all at sub prime mortgage company in Clonskeagh. Every weekend my girlfriend and I would travel west to work the family farm, and get back to Ranelagh late on the Sunday night, before returning to work on Monday morning. Following the passing of my girlfriend's father, I was able to take voluntary redundancy and we moved to the west, where we ran the family farm for 2 years. With no pay however it was imperative that one of us found a job. My partner found work in Galway, but I had to look too, but there was nothing in the west. So I applied for a job in the UK, and got the position in horse racing, so I am moving from Ireland.

We are due to be married at the end of May this year, so it was a rush to finish all the organisation prior to the move as I'm unlikely to get back to Ireland now until the wedding.

It's a great shame to have to leave Ireland, especially when we should be living together and planning the future, but I have to go where the work is. It will put a huge strain on our relationship, but there is absolutely no chance of a decent job in Ireland at the moment.

The park in the picture is literally just across the road from where we lived in Charleston Road, and we would come over with chairs and food, to read or doze in the summer days and evenings after work. It's a special place to me and reminds me of a very happy time in my life.."

Artur and Mel were on hand to shunt us over the fence if needed,  but they settled on lighting this one up with their usual efficiency!

Big thanks to Graham who by now has taken up his post as Clerk of the scales with the British Racing Industry. Another job title to add to his already colourful career which includes Train Driver, Mortgage Administrator, Legal Assistant and Farmer.

Two days to the election here. Lets vote for change and try to resist being corralled by the pollsters!

Its time we all had a change! not just Graham!!

Today had a chat with FRANCE 24, for a piece on irish emigration from an election perspective airs next Monday.It was great to meet Eve Irvine (correspodent) and Valerie Labonne( producer/camera)

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