Ireland: seven select photographers of natural beauty

March 20, 2016  •  Leave a Comment

Everyone who knows me more than just casually will likely also know that I have lost my heart – irretrievably – to Ireland and to the Irish. During the three years of living in Dublin (2010-13) I came to appreciate how unpretentious the Irish people are, how unassuming – live and let live, something that I endorse wholeheartedly. And the Emerald Isle has so many places of outstanding natural beauty that even with one photograph taken for every 10 minutes or so I spent there, I feel I have still only scratched the surface of what’s on offer. So to complement my own memories, photographic and otherwise, I have bought a number of prints and books which I treasure, and in the following will introduce and recommend the corresponding photographers (in alphetical order):

  • Peter Cox; http://www.petercox.ie/; Facebook (FB): petercoxphoto; Instagram (IG): @petercoxphotography; gallery in Killarney, Co. Kerry. Peter financed his beautiful first book, “Irish Light”, via Kickstarter, and I’m very happy to have taken part in that project – the book came with an exciting print of the sea roiling around Fastnet Rock & Lighthouse, the southernmost point of Ireland. He recently published a second one, “Atlantic Light”, with all photos being aerials and featuring the Irish West Coast – also highly recommended. To the best of my knowledge, all of Peter Cox’ available photographs are in colour.
  • Patrick Donald; http://www.patrickdonald.com/; FB: paddydonald; IG: @patrickdonaldphotographer. Patrick runs a thriving gallery for his own work in Dawson Street in Dublin – being located about 10 minutes walking distance from where I lived 2010-13 I had ample time to browse through his ever more diverse offering, and have picked one stunning print taken in Yosemite plus a dozen of his rather inexpensive ca. A4-sized series. Though Patrick Donald now also has photos from other parts of the world, and in colour, his tag line at least during my time was “Ireland in Black & White”, and that’s what I mostly know him for.
  • Peter Gordon; http://explorelight.com/; FB: explorelight; IG: @explorelight. “Explorelight” is the name of the photography business Peter is running together with his also very well-known father Ed. Both focus primarily on landscape and travel photography, mostly or entirely in colour, and I can personally vouch for the quality of Peter’s workshops (for which there is an ever growing group of devotees, among whom a friend of mine (FB: folker.michaelsen) whose homepage will soon go live, I understand – with quite a few pictures also from Peter Gordon workshops. Peter’s book “Wild Garden” contains the most amazing imagery from the Wicklow Mountain range close to Dublin, one of my favourite places on the Emerald Isle. And I also own a particularly subtle print of Peter’s from that area, Glendalough Lake in mist.
  • Eoghan Kavanagh; http://skyline.ie/; FB: eoghan.kavanagh.1; gallery in Kenmare, Co. Kerry. We came across a booth of Eoghan’s at an art fair in Dublin, and bought a stunning print of Doo Lough Valley on the spot. He later created an extensive body of work on the Skelligs, two islands out west in the Atlantic, incl. Skellig Michael, with an early Christian monastery that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kenmare is still on my list of to dos, and I’ll be looking forward to seeing and selecting from the gorgeous tree and landscape photos at Eoghan’s own gallery.
  • Peter McCabe; http://photoimagery.net/; FB: photoimagery; IG: @petemccabephoto. We first came across Peter’s luscious Irish landscapes while staying for a (too) few days at the outstanding Harvey’s Point Hotel (http://www.harveyspoint.com/) located on the shores of Lough Eske, Donegal, some 10 minutes driving distance from Donegal Town. In the meantime, two wonderful prints – Glengesh Pass, Donegal; and Finn Lough / Delphi  Valley, Mayo – have found their way onto our walls. Ever since, Peter McCabe is to me THE Irish landscape photographer of the Northwest.
  • Daragh Muldowney; http://dulraphotography.com/; FB: daragh.muldowney. So far alas I only met Daragh once, introduced by Peter Gordon (featured above) during a Dublin exhibition of his prints from “Jewellery Box: Ireland's Hidden Gems”, a wonderful book about Daragh's journey around the coast of Ireland photographing the treasures from the rock pools of each coastal county – the exhibition subsequently travelled the world. His homepage store has many more beautiful colour photographs, often in the sense of what Eliot Porter used to call “intimate landscapes”.
  • Giles Norman; http://gilesnorman.com/; FB: gilesnormanphotography; IG: @gilesnorman. It was a print of Giles‘ in the office of a colleague – a rowing boat on a shore in Black & White – which made we want to go and pay a visit Giles’ gallery in picturesque Kinsale, Co. Cork. I promptly took with me what I consider one of the most exciting coastline photographs of all times: a panoramic version of “coumeenole beach, dingle, 2010” – a scene I have later photographed myself and am showing here on my homepage for instance at http://www.mylenwyd.com/p957728355/h64bbcfd7#h64bbcfd7. Giles Norman now also has a lot of great images from all over the world, but also remains one of the most recommendable photographers of Irish themes.

This particular photo of Ben Whiskin (left; front) and Ben Bulbin (right; back), part of the Dartry Mountain range in so-called "Yeats' Country" close to Sligo, northwestern Ireland, an exhibition print as "Allianz Re Switzerland Pic(k) of the month" in April 2016.  Background story and location information at http://www.mylenwyd.com/p633760766/h7ca9bb84#h7ca9bb84 . More such photos at http://www.mylenwyd.com/p540954288 . Photo copyright Joachim Schroeter.


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