Bold, passionate and honest, a new exhibition showcases the work of the renowned French photographer …
Gilles Caron is a legendary figure in the field of photojournalism. During his short but extraordinary career, he breathed new life into the genre, capturing the spirit of the 1960s and delivering honest, technically brilliant accounts of the Six Day War in Vietnam, and conflicts in Chad and Biafra, while also covering the Prague Spring, Paris riots and so-called Battle of the Bogside in Northern Ireland in 1969.
These images in particular caught the attention of Bryan and Tara Meehan, owners of Park Hotel Kenmare, when they visited Galerie Anne Buffard in Paris where Caron’s works were on show. “I had no idea Caron had taken photographs of the Northern Ireland conflict. I was deeply moved by the images, his story and meeting his daughter Marjolaine,” explains Meehan.
Fourteen of these images from the Caron estate are now presented in the hotel’s first art exhibition. “In the context of what we’re seeing in places like Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and the US, the timing of this presentation seems right,” adds Meehan.
Caron visited Derry in 1969 during the build-up to what was to become known as the Battle of the Bogside. Tensions had been growing the previous year due to longstanding grievances by the nationalist majority who built barricades, petrol bomb factories and a radio transmitter broadcasting messages calling for resistance, which sparked widespread violence elsewhere in Northern Ireland.
Almost the entire Bogside community was mobilised, from children to women, as depicted in Caron’s images. Impromptu leaders emerged such as Eamonn McCann and Bernadette Devlin, also captured by Caron.
Caron was present throughout the battle, both inside and outside the barricades, with access to both sides of the conflict – including British troops. He took over 1,000 photographs that provided a detailed record of the event and made the front cover of Paris Match called Le Drame Irlandais. The images are nuanced, non-judgemental and sensitive to the often nameless individuals portrayed amid the chaos.
Caron’s desire was to use photography as a means of intervention – a way to immerse himself in current events rather than remain a bystander. In a letter from 1960 he said, “Doing nothing is dismal. Playing a role means taking one’s era in hand, being completely immersed in it!”
After leaving Ireland, Caron went missing in 1970 while on assignment in a Khmer Rouge-controlled area of Cambodia. He was only 30 years old, and left behind a wife and two young daughters, and a lasting legacy. Meehan hopes that this exhibition offers “space for reflection, remembrance and recognition of a body of work that remains as powerful today as it was when it was first captured.”
Need to know: The exhibition in the new library space of Park Hotel Kenmare is open to residents and members of the public, and can be enjoyed as part of the regular art tours of the hotel’s fascinating collection. @parkkenmare
