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A very big thank you to all who took part in the Boyle Portraits project!
With over 130 photos of people passing through the small town of Boyle over the last two months the photographer, David j., captured a snapshot of the town for his work for the Boyle Arts Festival.
We were overwhelmed by the positive response to the project and the traction it seemed to attract in the local community and further afield. There have already been responses from abroad complimenting the work and even a viewer from Philidelphia, who can't wait to come visit the Boyle Arts Festival in 2024.
There has been interest in developing the project further, but we will have to take some time to reflect before any plans are made in that respect. For now we are completing admin work, and getting set to print off some of the purchases made during the exhibition, with new work finding ho,es across the country and travelling as far as Spain, Canada and Australia - a truly international occasion.
“If we can create portraits of subjects that are true, we thereby in effect create a mirror of the times.”
- August Sander
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Black Hole Studio present the photographic works of local artist David j. as part of the Boyle Arts Festival 2023 following their successful exhibition at the same event the previous year Landscape and Nature, which featured three Roscommon based photographers: Laura Jean Zito, Matthew Gammon and David j.
This year features portraiture work of locals who were invited in for an impromptu sitting as they passed by the studio. Inspired by August Sander’s project People of the Twentieth Century, David j. wishes to make portraits of people from various social and economic backgrounds, but instead of travelling the countryside to encounter different people the decision was made to let the people come to him. By simply asking passer-by’s to sit for him gives a random choice of those portrayed, whether they are locals living there for years or visitors just passing through. It also gives a small cross-section of the people of Boyle and those who visit.
Sander changed the way many of us think about portraiture, informed the way we see gender and class, and shaped discussions around the archive as art and the idea of the documentary. With these themes again at the forefront of news today, in particular gender, it is fitting to reignite the idea around who people are and how they are perceived with the photographic portrait being probably the best suited for this purpose.
Súitú film screening takes place from 7pm - 9 pm. To book tickets see website.
If you have any queries, please call 086-3082645. If we do not answer, please leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.