Patrick Hogan’s partly autobiographical photographs present an intimate view of his everyday encounters and surroundings in a remote area of County Tipperary where he has lived for the past two years. His compelling portraits, dense still lives, brooding interiors and pensive landscapes convey a sense of uncertain anticipation and quiet foreboding. Though modest and focused in geographical scope, Hogan’s powerful images explore expansive existential themes of love, fragility, decay and loss.
In making this work, Hogan lets go of any traditional notions of photographic documentation and narrative. Working instead with an intuitive openness and sensitivity to the world around him, his work unfolds in direct response to his ongoing encounters with the people and the landscapes of his locality. Rather than attempting to offer some notion of ‘truth’ or ‘reality’ about a particular place or person, Hogan uses the camera as a tool to explore the uncertainties and ambivalence of photographic representation. At the heart of the work is a questioning of whether it is possible to develop a meaningful visual understanding of his intimate and immediate world.
Essay by Colin Graham
Poem by Dermot Healy
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