He’s All Better Again

This is Oisín (Ush-een). He’s been a bit sick over the past week and things took a turn for the worse over the weekend. He got gastroenteritis and the poor thing couldn’t fight it off himself. I’ll spare you the details of that horrible virus but let’s just say there is a lot of cleaning up involved.

After a few trips to the doctor, they decided it was best to get the fluids into him through IV as he was getting more and more dehydrated. Nothing was staying down and he was only getting sicker. The IV fluids did the trick. After 4 hours he started to perk up and I was then able to slowly drip more fluids into his mouth while he slept.

He’s much better now, he’s at home with his mum getting lots of cuddles and all the Peppa Pig he wants. Just seeing this little fella in the hospital bed was heart breaking and I knew it was nothing serious. I could see other parents up there who’s children weren’t going to be let out anytime soon. My heart goes out to them, I don’t know how they do it.

On a different note, who the hell puts plaster cast down a sink?

Amtes, or I think that’s what it says

Back in the 1840’s a new mental asylum was opened in Cork, Ireland, closed only in 1988. On a wet Sunday I took a stroll around but found the old hospital itself is now well boarded up and I could not get access. The Church however was easily accessible so I dropped in through a missing window pane to shelter from the worst of the weather.

Graffiti done well can be very nice and it certainly added something to this otherwise decrepit building. Much better than the average toe rag who sprays “johnny woz ‘ere” around the back of the school.

Some would say this is vandalism, not me. i wonder what this would have done for the victims patients of the old hospital. It’s an bold expression in a place that spent it’s history keeping the masses down.

Silvermines Co. Tipperary, Abandonment Part 3

In the final part of this series I look at the houses left to crumble since mining came to a halt in the area. Part 1 and Part 2 looked at the farm and mining buildings. All around this type of derelict house can be found. On the Silvermines Drive I must have passed half a dozen houses mostly covered in ivy. The whole area is so quiet now, I drove for around an hour on a Saturday afternoon without passing another car. It’s a strange feeling to stop the car in the middle of the road without worrying if I’m blocking anyone.

Doing this three part series has been quite an education for myself. I’ve found myself thinking much more about why I want to photograph, and perhaps what too.

Silvermines, Co. Tipperary, Abandonment Part 2

In Part 1 I looked at how many of the farm buildings in the area of Silvermines Co. Tipperary have been abandoned a. In Part 2 I photograph some of the pollution left over by the mining company when they had extracted what they could from the surrounding landscape.

As lead was a key metal being mined and due to the large amounts of this left over in the slag heaps that tower over the area much of the ground water has been so polluted that many farmers have reported their animals dying of lead poisoning. No doubt much of this has and still is entering to food chain. A terrible legacy to be leave…

Silvermines, Co. Tipperary. Abandonment Part 1

I set out on Saturday afternoon to the town of Silvermines (no prizes how that town got its name) in North Co. Tipperary. I had been researching old mines in Ireland lately and was hoping to find one to get some moody images of, perhaps some old rusting equipment and the likes.

After a drive of around an hour I arrived in the town and was immediately struck by how quiet and empty it felt. Mining activity has long ceased and by the looks of things the town was left to ebb away as employment soon became scarce. Local tourist maps dotted here and there seemed to provide directions for no-one.

The first record of mining in the area is from 1289. Mining resumed in the 17th century and continued intermittently until 1874. Opencast mining began in 1963 and was also worked underground from 1968 to 1982. The mine closed in September 1992 leaving behind slag heaps visible for miles. I walked up to the artificial lake left behind by the miners and found myself unable to find any beauty in the place. All I could see for miles around were crumbling houses, ground so polluted it was rusting orange and the local village so void of traffic.

I decided I’d put on my documentary photographers hat and do a series of images on the local area. The series would be broken up into three parts, the first being the abandoned farm buildings presumably by locals leaving the land to seek their fortune in the mines. The second would be the pollution left when the mining companies leave and the third would be the homes left to crumble in the aftermath.

So, for part 1…

Putting down the camera bag, can a phone compete?

This could be interesting to follow

http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/30/reinvention-a-hike-in-the-highlands-and-islands/

National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson will be leaving his camera bag behind as he goes off on a photographic tour of Scotland using an iPhone 5s. As a seasoned photographer for the distinguished NG I’m sure Jim isn’t short on talent and experience but none the less I think the challenge he’s setting for himself will be daunting.

I for one would be very interested in the results. With the never ending battle to produce cameras with more pixels, better ISO range, larger chips etc and the thousands these camera’s cost it’ll be great to see what results can be obtained from a phone. Okay, a pretty advanced phone but a phone none the less.

I’ve no doubt that this expedition is in some way being paid for by Apple in a marketing ploy but as long as they are honest with the results it’ll be an interesting exercise non the less.

The problem is, I’ll have no excuse not to take more snaps now with my phone. No more camera excuses.