Intruders progress

Well, I’ve just had my Intruders posters delivered and considering the limitations of mass printing, they look pretty good. One of the reasons I chose these two images was that they are a little less provocative than some of the others and more likely to be posted in public. It should still be interesting trying to find places brave enough to put them up. A big thankyou to my good friend John Flynn who designed them.

The Fundit notion http://www.fundit.ie/project/intruders is very slow and I’m still trying every avenue to find a sponsor or part sponsor. On the positive side, I’ve done a radio interview with Dublin City FM on their arts show and Alison O’ Riordan wrote a very nice piece about the project in last weeks Sunday Independent http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/books-arts/strippeddown-shots-of-the-urban-world-29059254.html 

For those not familiar with how this started. I have always had a fascination with Urbex, the exploration of old abandoned buildings, architectural decay, or not usually seen components of the man-made environment. Ireland and Dublin in particular has many such locations, some more famous than others.

I spent almost 4 months investigating these sometimes dangerous and often unwelcome places. However, it was their interiors that fascinated me most. What I found with my final selected locations was a really strange beauty in their decay and architectural wonder. These buildings were without the inhale and exhale of human breath for many years, no human warmth, no conversation or no human attention. Buildings long forgotten and left to die but still beautiful buildings

However, I added a twist. In each of the final selected locations, I’ve placed a nude lady. The nude female porcelain in it’s alive form to contrast with the beauty of the dying building. The careful composition and conflict of interest within each shot leaves the viewer not knowing which is the more impressive, the ladies beauty or the powerfully intriguing location. The nude highlights the decay of these buildings. It seemed like the perfect contrast but in a strange way the nudes looked like they were part of the furniture. These very tasteful images are as much about the location as they are about the people. The nude has been photographed in many landscapes in Ireland but what’s unique about this project is that some of the buildings I have used in Dublin are well known to most Dubliners for generations but their interiors not seen in many many years due to their now very hazardous condition.