Darragh Casey tells Christine Madden about his photographic exhibition of Irish writers.
Over the last two years photographer Darragh Casey has dropped into the homes of many of Ireland's literati and focused the unblinking lens of his camera on his subjects. The result is Writing in Light, an exhibition at the Dublin Writers Museum in Dublin, which was launched this week by John Banville.
Cathal McCabe, the director of the Irish Writers' Centre, originally saw Casey's photographs on display at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, and was keen to bring the fruits of this project to Dublin.
"The first one I photographed was Michael Longley," says Casey. "He had forgotten his appointment with me and was just getting into the bathtub when I rang the doorbell. He said he was really sorry and would make me a cup of tea. "Then I set up the camera, and that's what I got," Casey finishes, indicating the portrait of Longley with a slightly sheepish smile, clad in a bathrobe and cup in hand. The colour of the bathrobe will, however, remain a mystery to all but Longley and Casey, as he only takes photographs in black and white.
"I very deliberately only shoot in black and white. For me, it's more intimate than colour photography."
In fact, his entire approach is very calculated and deliberate, yet paradoxically yields very casual, intimate images. "I only use natural light, never the flash, and a 2 square camera on a tripod that I look down into. That way there's no restriction, no barrier between the person and me. It makes us both relaxed; we both become ourselves, and it allows the camera to do all the work."
This method allows for particularly arresting images, such as that of Tom Murphy. "He has such a beautiful face," says Casey. "He just looks straight into the camera. Very few people are like that." Others, such as the photograph of Anne Enright, catch her in a room washed with light as she looks away in reverie.
Casey's portrait of Ciaran Carson particularly exemplifies the virtues of his method. "Because I only use natural light, I also have to use a slow shutter speed. I'm communicating with Ciaran, and he's reacting - there's movement, so his hand is blurred. He's not aware the camera's there any more - it's just him and I, we're having a dialogue."
The exhibition is an initiative of the Irish Writers' Centre. "Darragh Casey's images provide an intriguing insight into these exceptional, writerly lives, allowing the viewer to experience each portrait as if they were there, sitting with Seamus Heaney at his kitchen table, for example, or drinking coffee with Colm Tóibín," says Cathal McCabe. The exhibition also includes photographs of Brian Friel, Frank McGuinness, Tom Kilroy, John Banville, Eavan Boland, Sebastian Barry, Nuala
Ní Dhomhnaill, Marie Jones and Jennifer Johnston.
Writing in Light: Portraits of Contemporary Irish Writers by Darragh Casey is at the Dublin Writers Museum, 18 Parnell Square, Dublin, until Saturday, April 30th. Admission, which includes a tour of the Dublin Writers Museum, is €6.50; €5.50 concessions. www.writersmuseum.com