Daniel de Chenu
, Irish, b.1961
Title
Connemara, County Galway, 1985Date1985
MediumGelatin silver print
Dimensions
25 × 37 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 2022
Object numberNGI.2022.18
DescriptionArtist’s Statement: This image of a man turning turf sods was made during my travels around Ireland while working on a commission for the New York publisher Abrams. When I encountered a situation that I felt might lead to an interesting image, I would introduce myself and explain what I was doing. I could easily spend an hour or more with the subject once they had agreed to my making some photographs of them. My intention was to try to reach a moment where the subject became more interested in what they were doing and had got used to my presence and the click of the camera from time to time. Photographing people in this way in the nineteen eighties was, I think, much easier than it is in today’s internet age. Today, people are concerned about where and in what context their image will be published online. When I was making these images, people were often flattered to have an image made of themselves and to be part of the project.ProvenancePurchased, 2022Exhibition HistoryThe Loving Eye, Kodak Gallery, Toyko, Japan, 1991