Outside of Ireland, ideas of Irish photography center around picturesque tourist views of the emerald green of the Irish landscape and photojournalistic representations of The Troubles. Justin Carville sets out inPhotography and Irelandto change this perception, to give attention instead to depictions of its social transformations, political upheavals, and geographical reimaginings as a colony, nation, province, and sovereign state.
As Carville demonstrates, photography not only has documented these transformations but has also helped shape how Ireland is viewed, both by itself and the rest of the world.Photography and Irelandexplores the role of the photographic image in the colonial and postcolonial visual cultures of Ireland from the nineteenth century to the present day, and it emphasizes the transnational dimension of photography in Ireland, including foreign photographers who have contributed their images to the cultural imagination.
Accessibly written and accompanied by a wealth of images, including commercial portraits and landscapes, ethnographic photography, photojournalism, and documentary works,Photography and Irelandexplores the formation of an indigenous photographic culture in Ireland through a number of interrelated themes.
Justin Carvilleis a lecturer in the history and theory of photography at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland. He has written on the subject of photography and Ireland for such journals asPhotography and Culture,Source, andThe Journal of Popular Visual Culture.
Introduction: Geographical Imaginings
One: A Short History of Irish Photography
Two: That Vast and Absorbing Subject
Three: One of the World’s Puzzles
Four: Conflicting Images
Five: The City in Ruins
Epilogue
References
Select Bibliography
AcknowledlÀ