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, Irish, b.1963
Title
Settlement Series
Date2011
MediumChromogenic print
Credit LinePurchased, 2020
Object numberNGI.2020.49
DescriptionThroughout Ireland’s ‘Celtic Tiger’ years the country witnessed dramatic economic and cultural changes and unprecedented growth. With the collapse of the Irish economy, more than fifteen years of expansion suddenly ended. This resulted in ‘ghost estates’ and unfinished ‘one off houses’ standing isolated in former picture postcard landscapes. These half-built edifices form the basis of Haughey’s Settlement series. Settlement, made up of photographic and video work, documents the effects of economic growth on both the shifting population demographic and the physical environment. Each photograph is produced between sunset and sunrise, partly to avoid any potential confrontation with security guards who regularly patrolled these sites during the daytime. Haughey’s working method: setting up at night, using very long exposures to capture the ambient light of the night, results in eerie, richly coloured photographs. The composition and printing of these images draws attention to the effects of development on the natural environment by reducing each photograph to the key elements of both the natural world and manmade constructions.


ProvenancePurchased, 2020