Irish photographer Ciarán Óg Arnold wins the First Book Award 2015

Ciáran Óg Arnold (b. 1977) is an Irish photographer who studied at the University of Ulster (MFA Photography, 2012). His work was included in ‘An Irish View’ at Rencontres d’Arles in 2009, and featured in Source magazine. As winner of the 2015 First Book Award , his book was published by MACK, and the work exhibited at Media Space, London.

United Kingdom –

I went to the worst of bars hoping to get killed. but all I could do was to get drunk again is a diary of sorts, following men down piss alleyways and into empty bars. The photographer accompanies the seekers of oblivion, their lopsided faces caught between ecstasy and apathy, their mouths chasing after the numbness of inebriation.

This is Ballinasloe, a sandstone town on the River Suck in the easternmost corner of Galway in Ireland, seen through the eyes of a native, Ciarán Óg Arnold. Within the rabble, Arnold trails after the cast-offs, invisible men who spend their time in murky corners, choosing to do nothing but drift and drink. Ballinasloe is a mouth; in Irish, mouth of the ford, mouth of the crowds. “We claim to hate it here” , writes Arnold, “but the truth is that we choose to stay, hiding from reality, drowning in drink and wanting to be left alone as we await whatever fate is in store.”

Over the years, Ballinasloe has become a ghost town, its immobile economy holding back only the indifferent. Its empty clubs are the ordinary voids of an orthodox escapism, the unvarying nightly vocation that is also creeping annihilation. The town is haunted by the absence of those unseeable others, who have also departed – the suicide kids of Charles Bukowski’s poem, from which the book’s title is taken.


 JURY  

Michael Mack
Michael has 20 years of art publishing experience as the managing director of Steidl and publisher of MACK. In 2011 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Plymouth for his contribution to art publishing.

Greg Hobson
Curator of Photographs at the National Media Museum, Bradford, Greg Hobson leads the Museum’s curatorial team in the conception and content delivery of its curatorial programme of exhibitions, displays and associated events.

Polly Fleury
Polly Fleury is Director of Special Projects at the Wilson Centre for Photography where she works closely with museums, artists, galleries and publishers bringing historical and contemporary photography to public view.

Simon Baker
Simon Baker is curator of photography and international art, Tate. Prior to becoming Tate’s first curator of photography in 2009 he was Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Nottingham. He has also curated photographic exhibitions internationally and has written widely on both photography and contemporary art.

Lucy Moore
Lucy Moore is the director of Claire de Rouen. She studied fine art at Chelsea College of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art, and writes frequently as well as directing the bookshop and its new publishing imprint. In June 2014 she curated a new art book fair for the ICA, Room&Book. Bel Jacobs has interviewed her, and Norbert Schoerner is soon to take her portrait.

Related Posts

Naveen Munjal HeroEco

Career Explored: Hero Eco MD, Naveen Munjal Debuts his Street Photography

India –  Photography is my passion, always has been, as far back as I can remember… People from all walks ...

Pablo Bartholomew : Coded Elegance

India – Sometime in 1989, Pablo Bartholomew made his first trip to the Northeast. His journey through the deepest recesses ...

A personal odyssey: In search of Kalpana Chakma

Bangladesh –  Dhaka, 10 June 2012:  The brilliance of visual documentary combined with meticulous research in the photo-forensic study “In search ...

Out of Da Wood : Sculpture by Bill Ming

England –  Out of Da Wood brings together a collection of new and existing work by Bermudian born Newark-based artist ...

Daegu Photography Biennale 2014: Women In War

Korea – The theme of the 2014 Daegu Photography Biennale is ‘The Memory of Photographs.’ The special exhibit ‘Women in ...

WORKSHOPS with Cristina de Middel and Ricardo Cases

Organized by EMAHO and IED MADRID June 19-22nd June,2014 India   Shooting, Editing and Photo-book Making with Cristina de Middel ...

Call for Entries: Photographic Museum of Humanity 2015 Grant

Photographic Museum Of Humanity opens its Call for Entries to the PMH 2015 Grant, an International Photography Contest with $4000 ...

Xyza Cruz Bacani

Filipino Street Photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani Takes Over Emaho Instagram Handle

Hong Kong –  Xyza Cruz Bacani is a Filipina Street and Documentary Photographer who has been featured in New York ...

Fotografia Europea Festival 2013 – HOST VII Photo Agency

Italy- As part of Fotografia Europea 2013 the Municipality of Reggio Emilia and aBcM are organising HOST, with the VII Photo ...