chiaroscuro | theirishphotographer

My Chiaroscuro

chiaroscuro:- noun - the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting, an effect of contrasted light and shadow created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction on something: the chiaroscuro of cobbled streets.

features the work of artists, sculptors, models, writers and musicians as reference and to bring other kinds of creativity from around the world to my visitors. I love sharing artwork from the classics to the contemporary it's part of being in the community. Here you can keep track of my influences and the artists I'm passionate about with links to their sites and works. Please feel free to send me links to cultural sites and artists you like.

colin davidson Colin Davidson. Currently my favourite Irish painter. I went to see Colin's Night Painting Exhibiton in the Oliver Sears Gallery Oct 2016. I did not want to leave. This is a detail from Night Painting 3. Go check out his site below. wonderful.	ran ortner Ran Ortner was born in 1959 in San Francisco and raised in rural Alaska. His first career was as a professional motorcycle rider, and he remains an avid surfer. He is wholly self-taught, and has spent the past two decades perfecting a technique and emotional complexity akin to the great masters.	susan sontag One of my go to books to remind myself of simplicity in my photography. In 1977, Sontag published this series of essays On Photography. The essays are an exploration of photographs as a collection of the world, mainly by travelers or tourists, and the way we experience it. In the essays, she outlined her theory of taking pictures as you travel.
edward weston When i first started photography I had no reference works, no books no real comparisons to shoot from. I found a book on weston in a second hand store and loved his work instantly. The nudes appealed to me as they were rife with Matisse type poses.	john everett millais my first trip to the tate britain was dec 2015 where I finally got to sit with Millias' incredible Ophelia. It seems to have been in my life since I was 16, when my art teacher first brought it to my attention. It's an incredibly moving piece, as always I urge you to go see art if you find it has creeped into your life.	cholmondeley ladies This is by an unknown artist and is hanging in Tate Britain. It's a very large image and the detail is brilliant. I personally found it a very interesting piece to view.
tracey emin Emin to me is a great teacher, I like listening to her, she's wrong, she's right and always very interesting. Like my other art hero Grayson Perry she seems to be a complex person that can easily be understood. I had no idea this piece was in Tate, so it was a great surprise to find it.	Louise Brooks I was flicking through a book in Easons back in the 80's and I came across this picture. I have no idea why but i was so attracted to her. Louise Brooks was an incredibly strong independent brilliant woman. In the 1920's her career as an actress was defined by her and her alone. Brooks wrote a great biography Lulu in Hollywood. It is a terrific read. Click the link below to see an arena documentary.	Matisse Blue Nudes refer to a series of cut-outs by Henri Matisse. Completed in 1952, they represent seated female nudes, and are among Matisse’s final body of works. Blue Nude IV, the first of the four, took a notebook of studies and two weeks work of cutting and arranging before it satisfied him. The pose he finally arrived at for all four works—intertwining legs and an arm stretching behind the neck—was his favorite.gouache-painted paper cut-outs stuck to paper mounted on canvas
Oleg Babkin Babkin is a Russian photographer and illustrator. In 1965 he shot a series of women's portraits stylised and influenced by the classic dutch and flemish painters. Next spring I am shooting a collection based on folklore utilizing the clothes of a brilliant Irish couture designer.	Finbarr Dac Hailing from Cork (Eire), Finbarr has lived the majority of his life in and around London. Self-taught and non-conformist, his influences range from dark graphic novels through to the works of Francis Bacon and Aubrey Beardsley.	Barry Finnegan Barry is a friend and an Award-winning artist specialising in large scale charcoal portraits he is a self taught artist specialising in photorealism with charcoal on a large scale. I worked with barry twice on video projects, his skills are so natural and watching the work evolve has been such a pleasure.
Jim Fitzpatrick Jim came to my attention at a very young age, My friends mom taught me a little piano and above the piano was the iconic 60's poster of Che Guevara by Jim Fitzpatrick. One of Irelands most relevant and prolific artists and this new collection of 1916 leaders for the 100 year anniversary of the Irish Easter Rising is just as iconic as that great Che image all those years ago.	Sean Hillen I love Sean Hillen's photomontage pieces. They are clever and beautiful. I own a print of this one and he has become a friend. In his own words - I really wanted, while conveying my ideas and impressions, to make the whole thing more open-handed, and that's partly why I like the rough collage construction, in that you clearly see the way the thing is made, and that's part of it.	John Nolan I love John Nolan images. I first met him in 2000 on a street stall on Dublin's Merrion Sq. I built his first ever website in exchange for two paintings. His exuberant style combines bold outlines with bright exotic colours. His interpretation of various motifs transmits a positive upbeat feeling to his viewers. These motifs are: Fish, Flowers, People, Birds, Still Life, Abstract, Collage, Landscapes
We Raise Bears A great discovery to me, this irish band have a unique haunting and very fresh sound. Sharon and Conor have created the most interesting collection of sounds and songs that I truly hope get the recognition and airplay they deserve - Photograph by Deirdre Keaney	Modigliani Known for portraits and nudes characterized by elongation of faces and figures, his works were not received well during his lifetime, his main subject was portraits and full figures of humans, both in the images and in his sculptures. During his life Modigliani had little success, but after his death he achieved greater popularity and his works of art achieved high prices. He died aged 35 in Paris. I've wanted to recreate this nude in its simplest form.	Mary Ellen Mark Mark is one of the very first photographers I read about on my quest to discover other street photographers. I found a second hand taschen book that showed two of her images. Loved them, she passed away earlier this year but left a legacy of wonderful photos for us all to enjoy and critique.
Bruce Davidson Yet another great image I found in a second hand taschen book, Bruce Davidson (1933) is an American photographer. He has been a member of the Magnum Photos agency since 1958. His photographs, notably those taken in Harlem, New York City, have been widely exhibited and published. He is known for photographing communities usually hostile to outsiders.	Richard Avedon This is the first ever photo I bought. Nastassja Kinski by Richard Avedon. At age 21 when I had received my first weeks wages in a new job I spent the whole lot on this print and lived for a week on cheese and beans on toast. I love his incredibly dramatic images. Avedon, having guest-editing the April 1965 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, quit the magazine after facing a storm of criticism over his collaboration with models of color. Wow!	John Minihan I've loved John's work for many years and recently he came to see mine. I was so honored to have such a great photographer, one of my peers, attending. His images of Samuel Beckett are known the world over but his work entails a lot more than just these images, some great pics of Bacon amongst his back catalogue.
Boccaccio Boccaccino This is a gypsy girl. Such a wonderful painting. I love the richness and her beautiful look captured forever. Learning of the Italian renaissance in school was one part of art history that appealed to me, it must have done because it stays with me today. Boccaccio's works are considered o be some of the finest to portray spirit and grace of attitude. I would consider both he and Raphael to have influenced how I shoot some portraits.	Joby Hickey I met Joby about 6 years ago although I was already aware of his work. An incredibly creative man. Joby Hickey, artist photographer, his combination of imagery, apparently casual in its observation, the use of surface to obtain a paint-like surface, contre jour treatment of objects in an Impressionistic manner and the technique, the very ancient technique of pinhole images, provide the basis of Joby Hickey’s art as a photographer.	Gary Coyle Born in 1965, he graduated from the National College of Art Dublin in 1989 and the Royal College of Art London, where he studied Sculpture, in 1996. He was elected a member of the RHA in 2007 and Aosdana in 2009. His work embraces various media – Drawing, Photography and, more recently, Spoken Word / Performance. He has exhibited widely both in Ireland and internationally.
Aga Szot Aga Szot Art Studio is an idea to create a stimulating imaginative art studio where she can work on a regular basis and allow people to watch her painting and see an artist's work environment. -"It is a special experience watching artists at work, the process of creation. Just as with a traffic accident people are drawn by curiosity to slow down, to watch, to somehow feel part of the process. People stop and stay, and we become only a part of what is going on".	Ciaran Lennon ...my paintings are addressed to the lone viewer/observer; my intention is to evoke through the qualities of these paintings our first early experience in the pre-verbal world of the infant/mother body. This is one of his Lennon's works at the RHA in Dublin City.	Patrick Colhoun Since winning the 2011 sculpture category at the Signature Art Awards in London, Colhoun's practice has developed internationally, now regularly exhibiting across Europe and beyond.
dormit (she sleeps) Irish artist Francis O’Toole is a Dublin based artist who has studied in Florence, Italy. Francis paints such wonderful photo real images. Check out his site.	girl reading a possession order Tom Hunter lives and works in Hackney, London. His work portrays and documents the communities and life he knows as neighbours and friends in East London. One of my favourite social documentary photographers.	pink bedroom (odalisque) Richard Tuschman is a recent discovery for me and Subsequently (thanks inter web) we have become friends on FB sharing stories and chatting about photography. I'm honored. I love his Hopper Meditations collection.
queen of hearts - jack of hearts The D'Vincic Sisters from Sweden are true artists. They have painted together since early childhood and art has helped them to grow and overcome difficult life crises.

My Chiaroscuro

colin davidson

Colin Davidson. Currently my favourite Irish painter. I went to see Colin's Night Painting Exhibiton in the Oliver Sears Gallery Oct 2016. I did not want to leave. This is a detail from Night Painting 3. Go check out his site below. wonderful.

ran ortner

Ran Ortner was born in 1959 in San Francisco and raised in rural Alaska. His first career was as a professional motorcycle rider, and he remains an avid surfer. He is wholly self-taught, and has spent the past two decades perfecting a technique and emotional complexity akin to the great masters.

susan sontag

edward weston

When i first started photography I had no reference works, no books no real comparisons to shoot from. I found a book on weston in a second hand store and loved his work instantly. The nudes appealed to me as they were rife with Matisse type poses.

john everett millais

cholmondeley ladies

This is by an unknown artist and is hanging in Tate Britain. It's a very large image and the detail is brilliant. I personally found it a very interesting piece to view.

tracey emin

Emin to me is a great teacher, I like listening to her, she's wrong, she's right and always very interesting. Like my other art hero Grayson Perry she seems to be a complex person that can easily be understood. I had no idea this piece was in Tate, so it was a great surprise to find it.

Louise Brooks

Matisse

Oleg Babkin

Babkin is a Russian photographer and illustrator. In 1965 he shot a series of women's portraits stylised and influenced by the classic dutch and flemish painters. Next spring I am shooting a collection based on folklore utilizing the clothes of a brilliant Irish couture designer.

Finbarr Dac

Hailing from Cork (Eire), Finbarr has lived the majority of his life in and around London. Self-taught and non-conformist, his influences range from dark graphic novels through to the works of Francis Bacon and Aubrey Beardsley.

Barry Finnegan

Jim Fitzpatrick

Sean Hillen

John Nolan

We Raise Bears

A great discovery to me, this irish band have a unique haunting and very fresh sound. Sharon and Conor have created the most interesting collection of sounds and songs that I truly hope get the recognition and airplay they deserve - Photograph by Deirdre Keaney

Modigliani

Mary Ellen Mark

Mark is one of the very first photographers I read about on my quest to discover other street photographers. I found a second hand taschen book that showed two of her images. Loved them, she passed away earlier this year but left a legacy of wonderful photos for us all to enjoy and critique.

Bruce Davidson

Richard Avedon

John Minihan

Boccaccio Boccaccino

Joby Hickey

Gary Coyle

Aga Szot

Ciaran Lennon

...my paintings are addressed to the lone viewer/observer; my intention is to evoke through the qualities of these paintings our first early experience in the pre-verbal world of the infant/mother body. This is one of his Lennon's works at the RHA in Dublin City.

Patrick Colhoun

Since winning the 2011 sculpture category at the Signature Art Awards in London, Colhoun's practice has developed internationally, now regularly exhibiting across Europe and beyond.

dormit (she sleeps)

Irish artist Francis O’Toole is a Dublin based artist who has studied in Florence, Italy. Francis paints such wonderful photo real images. Check out his site.

girl reading a possession order

Tom Hunter lives and works in Hackney, London. His work portrays and documents the communities and life he knows as neighbours and friends in East London. One of my favourite social documentary photographers.

pink bedroom (odalisque)

Richard Tuschman is a recent discovery for me and Subsequently (thanks inter web) we have become friends on FB sharing stories and chatting about photography. I'm honored. I love his Hopper Meditations collection.

queen of hearts - jack of hearts

The D'Vincic Sisters from Sweden are true artists. They have painted together since early childhood and art has helped them to grow and overcome difficult life crises.