The fine art street photographer’s archival exhibition on being seen …
Who or what kickstarted your interest in photography? A dear friend in Los Angeles started an online group exploring colour, motion and light, with lots of mixed medium artists from the Brewery Artist Lofts. He asked me to join in, from Dublin. I was more than a bit intimidated as the lofts is the world’s largest artist community, but he said; “You’ve always had a great eye. You belong.”
Photograph by Luke Brabazon.
So I swallowed my doubts, and agreed. I didn’t even have a camera! Preceding smartphones, I bought a little pocket Canon. We looked at things in abstract ways. It would be several years before I would pick up a camera with purpose. But what I learned, absorbed and integrated would become foundational in how I began to see. My fascination with glistening sidewalks after the rain, noticing changing light through layered windows, watching the last drips of water hit the saucer gave me a nearly inbuilt filter with which to see the world.
How has your work evolved and developed? Following that, I picked up my camera for trips or on special occasions until I truly understood its power and I steadily began to use it as a therapeutic tool. I realised how it had helped me get through periods of great stress. I combined it with walking and the sea – more relievers – and took to the coast. I always had some kind of device on me, so when I started taking pictures in town, at first I didn’t notice a big shift. Yet soon I realised that I was deeply attracted to catching people living their daily lives. I loved capturing in an image what I had been in awe of observing all my life. It’s what has become the unshakeable bedrock of my practice.
How do you work? I work from a feeling. I walk out my front door and I meet the world. There’s no preconceived set up or notion. In my best self practice, I stay out of my head. My gut leads the way. It’s like sensing something is about to happen and catching it as it does.
Neva Elliott wrote some beautiful observations for the booklet on my current exhibition “Seen”. “It’s accurate to call her work an ongoing mode of being: traversing, connecting, and perceiving. Her approach is bodily as much as visual, waiting until she registers a feeling she can’t quite articulate. “
I love these words from Neva, “Brinkmeyer’s photographs begin in a haptic, felt response.” Haptic. I keep dwelling on that.
What’s the symbolism behind these images? “Seen” really offers a chance to understand and get insight into how I work. It’s a small portion of my archive which Margarita Cappock curated to both show connections predominately in inner city Dublin by The LAB Gallery, but also further afield as the selection spoke to us and a vision began to take shape.
“Seen” epitomises how I feel we are all connected, all part of one thing. We see and we are seen. It’s only through that connection that images are made. Nothing is static.
I capture people in their own worlds. And I also love that moment when I meet someone in that space and we become aware of each other simultaneously. It’s unrehearsed and raw: a moment. We are (both) seen.
You’ve had quite a year, with several awards. What are you working on now? I feel very fortunate. After I catch my breath, I’m going to put my energy into some diverse city trips. Every time I travel I gain so much in my practice. Just a change in architecture, a new street to explore, an interesting culture to walk beside wakes more senses in me. It stimulates my being. And that inspiration and growth translates into new ways of seeing at home.
Tokyo is ringing through my body. I’m putting that out there! And I will do some more quick nearby journeys, like London soon. The work will follow the same locus. But the output will be an undetermined surprise. It makes me excited about beginning this new year.
Need to know: Seen runs until January 10 at LAB Gallery in Dublin 1. @whereismissyb @thelabgallery
