There’s a very exciting exhibition opening this month in the Gallery of Photography in Temple Bar supported by Irish Design 2015. Titled Resonate, the show is brought to us by Aisling Farinella, Fashion and Textiles Advisor for Irish Design 2015 and Gallery of Photography Ireland’s Darragh Shanahan.
The exhibition is set to showcase the inspirational images of some of Ireland’s top fashion photographers working nationally and internationally in the fashion industry. The line up includes some impressive names working in photography today including Perry Ogden, Rich Gilligan, Linda Brownlee, Neil Gavin, Boo George and Niall O’Brian along with a select edit of emerging Irish talent. TD sat down with Aisling and Darragh to discuss the conception of this project, the curating process involved and what we can expect to see at this exciting show.
TD: Can you tell us why you chose to entitle this exhibition Resonate?
Darragh: We decided on this title because we felt it was the best way that we could describe to the photographers involved and to the audience what we are trying to do with this exhibition.
In the early stages we approached each photographer that we had chosen to include and asked them to provide an image from their repertoire of images that has a significant meaning for them or that represents a pivotal time in their career as photographers. It’s important to us that the photographers themselves choose the image because often if they are working towards editorials they don’t get to have the last word on what images are or are not shown to the audience.
Aisling: I think that fashion photography is most commonly viewed in it’s commercial state. We see it as editorials in magazines and as campaigns but what we are trying to communicate with this exhibition is that fashion photography is a beautiful medium, which can elicit an emotional response or resonate with the viewer.
Resonate is giving the photographer the opportunity to provide a fashion image for exhibition that has an important meaning for them. Many of the photographers involved have been working in the industry for years and the task of choosing one image from such long careers can be a very difficult one. Even for the younger photographers involved it’s still very hard to pick just one. The defining point we gave each photographer taking part was ‘pick an image that means something to you’.
D: Yes it’s almost an impossible edit for some of the photographers to make which is why we’re so excited to see what we receive and get to showcase.
TD: Since photography itself is not technically design, why is it important for you both that fashion photography is showcased as part of Irish Design 2015?
A: For Darragh and I fashion photography is very meaningful. As a stylist I love producing fashion images, its my favourite part of my work. Each image you make can mean so much to you on so many different levels. We’re trying to connect with that experience of the photograph. There is a lot that goes in to the making of a fashion image that people don’t often realise. In addition to the photographer and model there could be a big team involved including stylist, hair, make-up artists, creative director, the producer, location scout and retoucher.
The fact that this is a physical show of fashion imagery is very important. We often don’t engage with fashion imagery for long enough as it’s usually presented on a screen or on the pages of a magazine. In this gallery setting people will be forced to take their time, to come in and really consider the images so that they become less instant and ephemeral and acquire longevity on a gallery wall.
For me, in my role as Fashion and Textiles Advisor for Irish Design 2015 it’s really important to showcase the work that Irish designers are doing both at home and internationally. Strictly speaking photography is not design but when combined with fashion it definitely is. Fashion photography is also not something that people always connect with so we hope this exhibition will help to broaden people’s perspectives of design and to present the work to a wider audience. It such an important time for fashion and Ireland right now and this is a wonderful opportunity to pay tribute to so many talented Irish photographers working within the international fashion industry.
D: Fashion photography is not a spur of the moment thing it’s a designed image. What you see in the final product didn’t happen by accident. There could be a team of fifteen people having meetings for weeks prior to the making of one particular image. Every part of it is a decision made in order to create that decisive moment for that fraction of a second when the photographer chooses to press the shutter release.
It’s important for GOP, which has always supported Irish fashion design, to contribute to the celebration of Irish design this year. With this exhibition we are continuing this spirit of design using a Gallery team to design the presentation of these images in exhibition form.
TD: How did you choose the photographers to feature in the exhibition?
A: We had a wish list that we came up with together. We wanted to show Irish photographers who are working both in Ireland and internationally on the same platform.
We started with the wish list and we pretty much got everybody on board. Everyone was very positive about the idea and really wanted to be involved. There are a couple of people missing who I do feel should be represented but logistically it didn’t come together for one reason or another.
D: All of the photographers involved in the exhibition were known to the Gallery to begin with. We’ve sold some of their books in the Gallery bookshop in the past. They have been on our radar for a while. Some fashion photographers are fine artists as well whose work is owned by other galleries. As a result there was a limit to whose work we could include but that’s the nature of the industry. What we like about the photographers involved is that they are innovative, active and ambitious. They have worked hard to make themselves known not just in Ireland but also throughout the world.
A: Yes that’s the thing there’s not often a lot of money to be made in fashion photography so that’s what makes these images even more special. The photographers who made them aren’t doing it for the money they’re doing it because they love it. They have something to say and use the medium of fashion photography to communicate it.
What we also like about this show is that there will be so many different aesthetics presented. I think that will be really interesting and also makes it possible for the audience to discover things they haven’t seen before.
Fashion photography has changed massively in a very short space of time. In this show we have a number of generations of photographers from the more established, older photographers whose work has often had a larger production team behind it to the emerging photographers who work with a lot smaller teams giving the work a new kind of spirit and feel.
TD: Can you tell us a bit about the curating process for this exhibition?
A: The exhibition itself is designed and curated in a very contemporary way.
D: Yes, we are going to frame the images without any glass or Perspex so that viewers can get right up close to the pigment ink and examine them in great detail like any great canvas. Because these photographers have laboured over the composition and the colour of these images as well as the styling and design work that has gone into them, we want the viewer to be able to get as close as possible to appreciate them in detail if they wish.
We are going to use papers that maybe people have not seen fashion photography printed on before. Normally a fashion image is on newsprint or on the glossy page of a magazine but we are going to present them as fine art prints using the most up to date technology. We are also designing a crate for all the images that will take the form of a kind of time capsule of fashion photography in Ireland at the moment so that the exhibition can travel and can be opened and installed at any time.
A: Exactly, the exhibition itself is designed to travel. Irish Design is all about showcasing Irish work both at home and internationally and there is a huge programme of events happening all over the world in all areas of Irish design, including fashion design, architecture, product design etc. For this show at GOP the idea is that it will be able to travel and connect with the Irish Embassy’s network all over Europe. Irish Embassies across the world are involved with ID2015, putting on shows and various events throughout the year as part of ID2015. We don’t have any confirmed locations yet but we are hoping for this exhibition to be versatile, to travel and to be showcased in this way.
D: We are also going to gather together the publications of each photographer involved and create a reading room in the Gallery’s second floor space. The idea behind this is that the visitors get the chance to explore and learn more about the photographers on exhibition.
A: I think this especially is a very important aspect of the show. Most of the photographers exhibiting work in many different genres of photography in addition to fashion such as documentary and portraiture. We want to give visitors to the show this wider perspective on photography.
TD: What impression or feeling do you want visitors to this exhibition to leave with?
D: As with any exhibition that we have had in the Gallery you can never predict what people are going to experience when they walk into the space. What we definitely know is that it will be a very concise and clear installation. People will immediately grasp what we are trying to do and after that it’s a personal interaction with each photograph that we are encouraging them to have. I think that it will open people up to a wider palette of fashion photography that they never knew existed.
A: Yes we hope that visitors will connect with the work in a meaningful way and leave feeling inspired.
TD: What effect would you like this exhibition to make in Ireland and on Irish fashion photography?
D: I think the exhibition primarily has an inspirational objective. We would like it to inspire people to view fashion photography with a more engaged eye and to open people up to the idea of making images.
A: We hope showcasing the work of Irish photographers who have been very successful both at home and abroad will have an inspiring effect on those who come to see it. It shows people the possibilities for their profession and their passion.
I also think GOP is so well positioned in Dublin city centre to reach a wider audience. Their visitors range from people living in Dublin and all around Ireland as well as tourists coming in. The fact that the show will be on over St.Patrick’s Day makes it an ideal time to have a show of Irish Design.
Resonate runs from March 12th to 29th in Gallery of Photography Ireland, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar as part of Irish Design 2015 with a celebratory launch party on March 12th . We can also look forward to a talk with one of the photographers featured in the exhibition, Linda Brownlee who will discuss her work in conversation with Aisling Farinella at 1pm on Saturday 14th March in Gallery of Photography’s main space.
Words: Jocelyn Murray Boyne
Feature Image: Nick & Chloë
