Award-winning novelist and playwright Lucy Caldwell worked with Bowe on this new story being presented in his show at Dublin’s Royal Hibernian Academy.

Award-winning novelist and playwright Lucy Caldwell worked with Bowe on this new story being presented in his show at Dublin’s Royal Hibernian Academy.
For its 14th edition, taking place in Dublin, PhotoIreland presents a radical programme with an international outlook that reflects the continual urgency and need for change
Irish photographer Iollann Ó Murchú’s graduate project offers a poetic, black-and-white exploration of his homeland
As the country enters an uncertain political and social landscape once more, Peress’ 2,000-page document of Northern Irish life in the 1970s and 80s feels more pertinent than ever
Accompanied by her mother, aunt and cousin, the family create charming scenes of theatre and dance, imagining and interpreting their grandmother’s life and journey.
Focusing on the sport of hurling, traditional dancing, and the town’s agricultural roots, Luis Alberto Rodriguez’ latest series captures the essence of Irish heritage
Before becoming a photographer, Sean Hillen was a tinkerer. As a young teenager, one of his favourite pastimes was to take apart his grandfather’s old cameras and then piece them back together again. It wasn’t long before he discovered that with a bit of tweaking he could fix a brand new 120 roll of film into an outmoded 620 camera. “I did that, I got them developed, and I was immediately addicted to photography”.
Hillen grew up through the Troubles in Newry, Northern Ireland, close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. “It was utter chaos,” he says. “I knew people who got killed, and I knew people who killed other people”. Hillen and his four siblings would lie awake in bed at night listening to gun battles, which were so frequent that they were able to distinguish between the sounds of different weapons.
“This exhibition doesn’t have any of the clichés people might expect Irish photography to have,” says Vivienne Gamble. “I want it to give a viewpoint of the country that a lot of people wouldn’t necessarily expect.”
The director of Peckham’s Seen Fifteen Gallery is talking about Triptych, an exhibition showing in Paris from 09-12 November in association with Centre Culturel Irlandais. The exhibition, which will be held across the three levels of the Espace Lhomond gallery just across the street from the CCI, features work by three of Ireland’s most promising photographers: Ciarán Óg Arnold, Megan Doherty and Martin Seeds, each of whom is showing photographs deeply rooted in their homeland.
“People might not have a lot, but they will give you what they can. That’s true of so many Irish people. They’re a very warm and friendly and welcoming people. They will tell you stories and their lives and give you their time.” Josh Adam Jones, a student at the University of West England, Bristol, developed his project 99 Peace Walls whilst volunteering at Belfast’s photo festival this summer. The youth of the city helped him to understand the divides that are still ingrained into the culture there, and how, in spite of this, there is a warm community to be found throughout the city.