OIKEIÔSIS

Original jpg from Carl Byrne @artisan photographic
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The title of this post is a Greek word with connotations of home or belonging and this was the theme of an exhibition by this year's seven graduates in the Dublin DIT (now relabeled TU) BA class this year.

The exhibition is in the Gallery of Photography in Meeting House Square in Dublin's Temple Bar.

This is Contemporary Photography (eg photography with a current point of reference in society or the life of the photographer) and it reminded me very much of a Carlow IT graduate exhibition I saw in Wexford some years ago.

The photography themes ranged wide: drugs, Brexit, homelessness, social regeneration, environment, neighbourhood and flight. There were booklets on display which I understand described the projects in greater detail than could be got across in an exhibition space. Unfortunately I didn't realise at the time what they were and didn't check them out.

So my remarks here apply simply to the exhibition as such. I would hold, however, that an ability to get one's point across via some quality photography should be an indication of the quality of the project itself and its relevance to a degree in photography.

Original jpg from Carl Byrne @artisan photographic
Uploaded to post at 1/8 original size

On that score, the project that appealed to me most was the drugs project from which you can see two illustrations above. It combined social relevance with extensive research and was illustrated through a series of well thought out photographs with a novel presentation of textual content.

The theme was the decriminalisation of cannabis use.

A project close to my heart was the regeneration of inner city flats complexes. The examples chosen were Dolphin House, Theresa's Gardens and Dominick Street. The project itself is quite complex and clearly relevant but it is difficult to convey this in a limited exhibition space.

The complexities, or even the simplicity, of Brexit is difficult to convey in pictures. This was a four year course and in the last two of these the nature and understanding of Brexit has been evolving on the public stage. Though I'd have to say that I see this evolution as a gradual clarification of what I understood it to be from the beginning. But we'll park that. This is not my show.

The visual material here attempts to illustrate Brexit through a series of dystopian scenes in the south-east of Ireland and England. I take the point but it is very difficult to get this across visually and I could envisage an alternative set of photos myself.

This is a comment purely relating to the exhibition itself. I did not get to read the full project.

I've reproduced two of the individual Brexit photos above.

This project involved moving to a new neighbourhood and across a state border, as I recollect it. It does illustrate how difficult this can be to get across simply in a series of images and the impact of this project is likely better captured in the text than in the photos.

The homelessness project was innovative and included distributing disposable cameras to those lodged in social accommodation for them to record the appalling conditions in which they were living. It sounds like a great project but again the visual representation had its problems.

I'll leave the individual projects there, but stress again that I was only going on what I saw and cannot comment on the quality of the full projects. But I would also stress that conveying the projects visually in a confined space is also a challenge appropriate to any aspiring photographer.

Ann Curran

Ann, who is in charge of the degree course at TU, introduced the exhibition and she seemed happy with this year's crop of graduates.

Alexa Simonics

Alexa, who is one of the graduates/exhibitors, also commented on the exhibition. I gather she had a central role in its organisation.

Shane Lynam

Shane, himself a photographer of some years standing, formally launched the exhibition and gave words of encouragement and advice to the graduates for cutting out a career in the highly competitive field of photography.

He mentioned a point dear to my own heart. Now that everyone has a camera, even an always-with-you one in your phone, the field has got a bit crowded.

My own feeling is that this has led to less appreciation of good photographs and when I see upside down and sideways photos uploaded to the internet my heart bleeds for talented and conscientious photographers. (My own photo-background)

Above are just a few "audience" shots and I won't identify the people as I only know who some of them are.

Before I finish, I'd like to compliment Tanya Kiang on this wonderful space in the centre of the city. It has an excellent bookshop, a digital studio, and puts on highly relevant and exciting exhibitions in the course of the year.

The Gallery of Photography's next exhibition will be in partnership with the National Library of Ireland, whose photo department is just across the square. I am looking forward immensely to this upcoming exhibition of photos of Irish life from a collection which has not been seen before and which has involved a high degree of collaboration not only between these two entities but with the family of the photographer concerned. Stay tuned.

And finally, raising my eyes, and camera, to the gallery above us, I realise we're all on show here on the night. All the world's a stage ...