Culture

Gallery: a photobook from Down Under for PhotoIreland festival

Run entirely by voluntary effort and as eclectic as ever, the PhotoIreland festival features multiple exhibitions as well as book launches, portfolio reviews and a book fair

Frank Miller
Tue Jul 21 2015 - 15:00

The sixth PhotoIreland Festival is now well underway and continues until the end of July. Run entirely by voluntary effort and as eclectic as ever, the festival based in Dublin features multiple exhibitions as well as book launches, portfolio reviews and a book fair.

Highlights include Under the Influence by Dominic Hawgood at the Oonagh Young Gallery, 13 Kinder by Christiane Peschek at the Copper House Gallery, the Asia Pacific Photobook Archive arriving in Dublin, its first time in Europe, and the exhibition Island - Australia, with images featured here at the Copper House Gallery, continuing until July 26th. It is presented by the Australian Centre for Photography and PhotoIreland as a gripping taster the exhibition provides a glimpse of some of the most exciting Australian photographers today, from street and documentary to contemporary fine art photography.

Going beyond the clichés of the island down under, the selection of works offers an insight into Australia’s people, landscapes and way of life. Navigating between the real, the expected and the imagined, the images presented constitute a suggestive and subjective portrait of Australia, poetical and sometimes harsh.

A key element of the festival and the ongoing PhotoIreland project is the rise and rise of the Photobook, which has become the chosen medium for many serious photographers to show their work, away from traditional gallery structures. The festival opening saw the exclusive launch of Eamonn Doyle’s new book ON, which was launched in the Library Project. In total the festival features 35 exhibitions over the month, all free to visit.

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Look out also for the expanded Postcards from Ireland project, which has gone worldwide with a call-out to the Diaspora to send in their images for postcards which challenge the stereotypical representation of the country. This somewhat what frantic festival of imagery and design, with too much too see in the time available is at times challenging, even maddening, but always interesting.

photography