Irish & Sean-nós dance dublin

During the summer I had the chance to shoot for Mary Beth of Irish & Sean-nòs dance Dublin during her classes in the Cobblestone and in Drumcondra, to be used for their new website.

 

The Cobblestone

Spirit of Folk 2014

I had a blast taking photographs at the Spirit of Folk Festival this year! I enjoyed everything about it: the place, the people, the stage, the musicians, the atmosphere, I found everything very exciting and creatively stimulating from the point of view of a photographer and music lover.

 

The Festival

The festival has been running for four years. It’s a small trad, indie, folk and rock music festival that takes place each year in Dunderry Park in Co. Meath. As well as music, the festival proposes a diverse program that includes science, storytelling, poetry, archery, historical reenactments and a whole host of other activities to keep you entertained throughout the weekend.

It has a huge emphasis on being holistic and family-friendly, with a laid back atmosphere that seeps into all the aspects of the festival.

 

The Storytelling Cairn

The park where the Spirit of Folk takes place includes a very peculiar venue. In the field behind the woods, there is a replica of a megalithic cairn. This area hosts scientists, poets, historians  and some of Ireland’s best Seanchaí spin some tales!

 

Living History

The festival is also about embracing our heritage and past. For this reason there was a ‘Living History’ village, where people could experience what it was like to dress, live, craft and cook old school style.

As part of it, on Saturday there was a small scale battle reenactment in the activity area. It was cool to witness what it was like for warriors to use their armory and weapons on the battle ground for a combat!

 

The Music

The music was performed on two stages: the main stage and the woodland stage. Both beautiful in their own right. The main stage was a low hanging white tent that reflected the lights nicely to create a glowing atmosphere. The woodland stage was smaller, and nestled in the wood not too far from the main area.

 

Spirit of Folk Launch at Whelan’s

This weekend I had the pleasure to shoot at the Spirit of Folk launch at Whelan’s: “we are made of stars stuff”. It was a fantastic night full of talks and great music form Bunoscionn, Carriages, Leading Armies and Stephen James.

 

The talks

The night was  a glimpse of the forthcoming festival in Dunderry Park, which runs from 19th – 21st September. The theme of the night was ‘We are made of Star Stuff’, a quote from cosmologist Carl Sagan. The focus of the talks was on exploring people’s potential and inspire them to dream big and have the courage to take action.

 

The Music performance

The talks were followed by a great musical lineup of acts:  Stephen James, Carriages, Leading Armies and Bunoscionn; who performed their very special ‘Trad side of the Moon’ a folk version of Pink Floyd’s most famous album. Whelans was transformed into a flickering night time light show with music and conversation going on late into the night!

 

The Longtails at Whelan’s live

Yesterday, I shot the Longtails live gig at Whelan’s upstairs. It was a night of great atmosphere, in a nice venue, with good acoustic and lighting. 🙂

 

The support acts

Cècile and Andrew opened the night. Followed by Harry Ramble with band. A good mix of originals and covers from both bands.

 

The Longtails

The Longtails are Paul Loughran, Alessandro Giusti, Manon Trenza and the new member Sean Saad. One part Irish, Italian, French & Brazilian, they play original songs with guitars, banjo, bass, percussions, plus unique inserts of loops and a musical saw.

The Cobblestone Sessions: a photographic book

I was enchanted by Ireland the first time I came in 2003: the people, the history, the landscapes, but especially, the music! Still, even after my return in Italy, I had a very general and foggy idea of what Irish music was, and how it connects so many people from all sides of the globe.

I had to come back in 2007 to fully discover this world of music. Dublin has an incredible music scene, especially for folk and live music, and the Cobblestone is a small little gem in the city. As old and charming as an Irish pub can get, it is one of Dublin’s most authentic places, with truly genuine live traditional Irish music played every night, where the music is there not for the tourists, but for the enjoyment of playing together.

 

The Idea of a photographic book

As my passion for Irish music grew, I started to come here more and more often, getting to know musicians, singers, dancers and locals. An atmosphere that I wanted to capture through my camera!

The number of photos quickly increased to the point of having a good collection: my husband Alessandro suggested that it was starting to be something meaningful, a journey through our musical and cultural discovery, something worth sharing. So… why not doing a photographic book?

From that moment I started assembling the collection of photos and bringing my camera with me every time we were there, taking even more photos of regulars and visitors, trying to capture the “craic”  everyone was having.

 

Why Black & White?

I always liked black & white photos. Most of my favorite photographers, like Henri Cartier-Bresson, shoot mainly in black & white. Shooting in B&W helps me focus on the subject, the lighting, the composition while keeping my mind focused on what I am witnessing; it is a way for the reader to add an extra level of imagination.

 In a way, it is like telling a story: the narrator has a mental picture of what he is telling to his audience, but each and every person who is reading or listening to the story thinks of something different. An imaginary world gets created every time, for any recipient of that story.

In my mind, this book will not be different: there are thousands of ways we can “experience” a place, and, in the same way, while the book will be the result of my own narrative, I would like everyone to experience it in their own way.

 

Right now

After the latest photographic shooting with Mary Beth Taylor of her dance classes, and of the usual Friday night céilí, I have almost completes my set of photographs for the book and I am now working at the final layout. There is a pretty short selection available on the website here, but let me know if you want to be in the book, or if you want to know if I am planning to publish a photograph featuring yourself.

So now it gets though: as well as preparing the layout and the printing quotes, I now need to lay down the text (with also the version in Irish…!),  and get the financing sorted from any sort of sources. Keep following the blog for more updates on that! 🙂