I am a writer (of poetry mainly) and photographer. I also teach creative writing part-time. I first became aware of photography in the 1970s. Robert Frank was probably my first big influence, then Cartier-Bresson, Andre Kertesz,  Martin Parr's 'Bad Weather' and Fay Godwin's Read more...

I am a writer (of poetry mainly) and photographer. I also teach creative writing part-time. I first became aware of photography in the 1970s. Robert Frank was probably my first big influence, then Cartier-Bresson, Andre Kertesz,  Martin Parr's 'Bad Weather' and Fay Godwin's 'Land'. Koudelka was another revelation.

In the late 1970s, when I was working in a Dublin restaurant, Captain Americas, Colin (the Salad Chef) gave me the loan of a proper SLR for the day. It was like an unblinkering, the opening of a third eye; I found that this was a language I already spoke with some fluency (having done a foundation course in Dun Laoghaire College of Art & Design probably helped). I have been taking photographs ever since.

I've had photographs in a number of group shows, including the Oxo Gallery and The Guardian Offices in London, and have won awards twice in group shows at the dlrLexicon.  

I had my first solo show, Ghostlight, in the dlrLexicon in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, in 2018. I was also invited to give a slideshow and talk at the same venue not long afterwards. 

My previous publishers, Salmon Poetry (Galway) and Salt (UK) have let me do the cover photography for my three collections, 'Airborne' (2001) 'The Sky Road' (2007) and 'Fade Street' (2010). I was especially pleased with the cover of my 2007 collection, a B&W photo I took in 1994 with my old Nikon F3, of a couple asleep on a bus in Wicklow. I still think it is one of my best.

Links:
My Wiki page.
My Saatchi Gallery page:
My blog: LIGHTBOX
My fifth collection: Ghostlight: New & Selected Poems