Horses on Show

Bannow & Rathangan Agricultural Show, Ireland, 2010.

Prints available on request.

 

Landscapes: The Burrow, Kilmore Quay

Final Project: Landscapes.

I took a walk along a local nature reserve: The Burrow. It is a great place to go for a walk or run, and get away from the stress of modern life. To spend time in close contact with nature is always refreshing.

My main reason was to just get out and take some photos as part of initial experimentation on the final project. Perhaps the project will deal with issues of land and ownership. Property and land ownership is a big issue in Ireland, and I wonder is there anywhere in the world where land ownership is not an issue?

Maybe the project will deal with issues of ownership, use of land, and who gets to use the land. Its not quite the direction I initially had in mind for the project, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow and see where it leads you.

Ideally I would like to do this project with a 6×7 or 6×9 medium format film camera. the images below were taken with a Leica M6 and some expired Fujicolor 200 film I picked up in a car boot sale for next to nothing. I do like how Fujicolor film brings out the greens.

Restart Ireland’s Sugar Beet Industry

Most of Ireland’s sugar is imported from abroad. Ireland’s last remaining sugar plants were closed down in 2005/2006 following reforms of the EU’s Sugar Policies. Even at the end of the industry, the turnover in Co. Wexford alone was over €10 million.

The image below was taken at Wellington bridge at a disused sugar factory. The factory is adjacent to the now defunct Rosslare-Waterford railway line, which I was photographing at the time.

Re-starting the Irish sugar beet industry would create hundreds if not thousands of jobs across the country in areas where unemployment is destroying communities. It would create jobs for farmers, road hauliers, factory workers, and might even re-introduce traffic/business along the Rosslare-Waterford railway line, not to mention the growing bio-ethanol industry.

Now, doesn’t that sound sweet?

Vernacular Unspectacular

I recently started documenting the rural vernacular buildings of my locality. The long-term plan is to record these important records of our architectural and social heritage before they crumble, and merge with the landscape. Of course many of these are still in use, and it is great to see that people still find these worthy of preservation.

Many of these buildings are hundreds of years old, and are a testament to the coming together of communities of skilled people.

I have started taking thse pictures on a Leica M6 with 35mm Summicron lens in with black and white film. It seemed the logical thing to do. However, I will also be experimenting with digital colour, and medium format, before deciding on the most appropriate method of this documenting process.