Eddie Ryan

Ambient, transitional light; mutable surfaces; images of the endotic and the anti sublime make manifest a view that's somewhat compromised in its’ making. The work reflexively explores the experience of the migrant - the temporal fragility of the lives of those who must leave. It articulates their strategies of survival and assimilation in photographs tempered by the mores, sanctions, and beliefs of the country in which they were made.

Located in the march between autocracy and democracy, the images allude to the conservative nature of the host society being explored. The photographs act as both apertures of seeing and archeological density maps - physical and conceptual ways of articulating being ‘in-between’ - stay or go? Belong here or belong there?

This work was made in partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts in Photography qualification at the Belfast School of Art, Ulster University. It was exhibited at the Belfast Exposed Gallery as part of the Belfast Photo Festival from June 2nd to July 15th 2022.

"I was intrigued by these pictures which, at first glance, looked to be studies of in-between and neglected spaces at the edges of an anonymous city. More pertinently, these images explore the lives of migrants, those who must emigrate, who we might use similar adjectives to describe. Whilst the human figure is absent, the attention to traces of human presence, such as improvised street furniture, suggests a place of assimilation and in-betweenness. Temporary walls, borders and barbed wire fences are a reminder of the way people seeking asylum and refuge are often treated and controlled."
Ben Harman, Source Selector, 2022

The project was chosen by Ben Harman, then Director of Stills Gallery Edinburgh, as one of his MA/MFA selections for Source Magazine's showcase for emerging photographic talent in 2022.

https://www.source.ie/graduate/2022/selection1_ma.php

Bethany Kane, Manager of the Exposure Photography Festival in Canada also selected me as one of The Pupilsphere's Spotlight Artists of the year also in 2022. Many thanks to them both for the honour.

https://www.irishartsreview.com/new-generation/edward-ryan/