'Rooted as they are in an all-too-real climate of rising temperatures and political tribalism, the images are a personal attempt to make sense of this global crisis.' Photographer and filmmaker Conor Horgan introduces Post State, a new exhibition of his work at the RHA Dublin.
As the pandemic restrictions slowly lifted in mid-2020, I began driving around the country with my camera, taking smaller roads, avoiding the motorways. The side roads took me from a deserted shipyard in Baltimore to the skeletal frame of an overgrown factory in North Mayo. The recent lockdown had given a rare glimpse of deserted towns and empty streets. Travelling through the still-quiet country fired my imagination, making me think of a more long-term situation when that would be the norm. I started thinking about statehood, what it really means, and what this island will be like after it's no longer a nation state. Which brought me to thinking about all the factors that are contributing to this potential result, and how the nation state is by definition a wholly inadequate structure in terms of meeting the current global challenges.
The landscapes and objects I shot on these journeys blur the lines between documentary and dystopia, and have become glimpses into an all-too-possible future, which also allude to many of the factors that are contributing to that outcome.
Rooted as they are in an all-too-real climate of rising temperatures and political tribalism, the images in Post-State are a personal attempt to make sense of this global crisis. Despite the unsettling theme, I’ve been conscious of finding as much beauty as I can in the images and have spent quite a lot of time working to make even a photograph of a breeze block wall with an empty doorway as beautiful as possible. It’s so easy to allow ourselves to be distracted from how the world actually is, and in a sense I’m making these images in the hope that people will not look away from what they represent. Beauty is as good a means as any to hold the attention - even if just for a fraction longer.
I’ve spent the vast majority of my career photographing and filming people, initially as a portrait photographer and more recently as a documentary director (The Queen of Ireland). To make a body of work that is all landscape and found objects is an entirely new way of working for me, and I’ve been finding it very engaging indeed. It was also very encouraging last year to receive an Arts Council Agility Award for the project, and to have one of the images accepted for the Royal Ulster Academy annual exhibition - my first time being shown there. I’m very excited indeed to present this body of work in the RHA, as part of their Ashford gallery program. I also look forward to showing it more widely around the country, in order for it to engage as many people as possible.
Post-State is at the Ashford Gallery of the Royal Hibernian Academy Ashford Gallery from 14th Oct – 13 Nov
