Photographer, writer and director Conor Horgan shares his journey and work in the RHA’s new exhibition …
Who or what kickstarted your interest in photography?
When I was ten, my uncle David Bryans gave me a Polaroid camera, which was really quite an exceptional present back then; he was always a very generous man. I fell in love with the magic of taking a picture and seeing it develop in front of my eyes. That mix of alchemy and science continued when I first started working in a darkroom in the basement of our house. I used to lose all sense of time seeing these images miraculously appear on blank paper underneath the red light.
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Initially, I think many photographers are drawn to the technical side of photography. Over the last number of years, my interest has been very much about the connection that photography affords me between me and my subjects. Whether that’s me and the people I’m doing portraits of, or abstract images and the ridiculousness of lighting a broccoli stalk as though it’s at Studio 54! There’s fun and wit in that too, but it’s really about connection.
How and where do you work?
I’ve worked all over the world, and I have a little home studio where I do all the post-production, my digital darkroom. I’m still working in a darkroom-type space, but it’s on a computer now, rather than in a smelly room in the basement with lots of chemicals spilling everywhere.
I shoot portraits in my home studio as well, but I do much of my work on location. I’m currently working on an ongoing series of portraits for Literature Ireland of some of the great Irish writers. We shot Naoise Dolan in Berlin last year.
I also created pictures for film posters recently in Dundalk where I ended up building studio set-ups in a hotel ballroom, putting on music, making the space my own and welcoming the people into it. I find that that’s how I get the best results.
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Tell us about Edge, your work in the RHA’s Archipelago exhibition?
This work is a personal response to the hostile architecture of barriers that were installed throughout 2024 along Dublin’s Grand Canal and nearby areas in an attempt to deter homeless people seeking asylum from sleeping there. These semi-abstracted images are intended to convey a sense of the often traumatic experiences of these men as they make their way to Ireland and after they arrived, when they were met with the opposite of what they most needed – protection. The works are not documentary images, not least because conventional documentary photographs could cause these unprotected men to be identified online and further expose them to danger. Under European law, it’s illegal to photograph people seeking asylum without their permission – they have more rights to privacy than citizens as they are deemed more vulnerable.
While there are no people in these photographs, I’m trying to connect the subject, the viewer and myself with a shared sense of empathy.
The barriers were a shameful, heavy-handed initiative, supposedly put in place to protect the canal and its amenities from the homeless men. Instead, they became a physical manifestation of the unspoken policy of placing the men outside the protection of the State – keeping them on the edge, not allowing them to come in from the cold. They were given small tents by one official agency, which were subsequently removed and destroyed by other official agencies. This policy, along with the fences themselves, left the men even more vulnerable to harassment and attacks from far-right and anti-immigrant groups, which happened regularly. As well as being a metaphor for how people seeking asylum are often treated unfairly in Ireland, the barriers were a visual pollution of the environment, ending up costing almost €800,000. I was very affected by what was going on. I hope that the work will give a sense of connectedness between us and our fellow humans, who are in a very difficult situation.
At the RHA, my work will be put on a gigantic vinyl background – five by four metres wide, with photographs pinned to it. I’ve never done anything quite like this before, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it works out. Edge was shortlisted for an international award from Photo Museum Ireland, which I’m very happy about.
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How did you become part of Island Photographers?
A friend and colleague invited me to join three years ago. We’re a very disparate group of people with a shared vision of doing everything we can to raise the profile of contemporary art photography in this country. Having lived in Paris for a couple of years where photography and art photography is very much a part of the cultural landscape, I found that there’s more photography exhibitions in Paris every month than you could possibly have the time to go and see. In Ireland, we don’t have that many at all. This was the reason to start an unofficial, informal group called Island Photographers. To our surprise and delight, we found that there was a huge appetite for this, not only from all of the practitioners, but from all of the institutions. Of course, there are institutions such as the Gallery of Photography, Photo Ireland and the International Centre for the Image in the North Wall, but there was no group as such. We started by building a community of art photographers and associated professionals, from curators to collectors and librarians, and have held serious regular events. It’s been a great to be a part of, a very fulfilling initiative.
People are pushing the envelope of what it’s possible to do with photography in this country today, and it’s tremendously exciting to be a part of that.
This year, we were invited by the RHA to take part in the largest group photographer show that they’ve ever held in the gallery, featuring 17 international photographers including Shane Lynam, Yvette Monahan, Kate Nolan and Ruby Wallis, among others. The RHA and all the participating artists have set out to really use the space, so there are 3D installations and not just framed photographs on the wall.
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Need to Know: A R C H I P E L A G O runs from September 12 to October 25 at RHA Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Gallagher Gallery, Dublin 2.
The first publication of Island Photographers, Brionglóid will be launched in October, featuring work from 40 Irish photographic artists. @conorhorgan
