challenging portrait

Tags

#jjcommunity, Aisling, Galway, Ireland, photo, photo challenge, photography, portrait, portrait challange

Meeting new people and connecting through creativity is one of the #jjcommunitys aims, to help with that they offer support and advice in how to perfect your Instagram and use the tools available to you.

So on Saturday, on the mystery tour, we lernt about some of the challenges a street photographer has: light, movement, unknown territory, spotting the moment before it passes and sometimes, with the help of a smile, asking for a strangers permission to photograph them.

The CEO of #jjcommunity Kevin Kuster led the group I was in through the drizzle of Galway and gave us a few challenges along the way. One challenge was to approach a stranger and take their portrait.

Never one to shy away from the unknown I took the challenge on and began to look for someone a little bit special. I saw a stunning woman across the road and drawn in by her colourful clothes and true Irish complexion I stopped her in her tracks. She was in a bit of a hurry but agreed to my proposal and I was rewarded with theses lovely portraits on a beautiful woman from Galway – Aisling: a full-time nurse and part-time model.

Aisling

the windows in Galway

Tags

#jjcommunity, dreams, Galway, imagine, Ireland, Mystery Tour, photography, photos, travel, windows

Galway is one of those wonderfully colorful cities that attracts locals and tourists alike.  On my recent trip my gaze was often drawn upwards at the eclectic selection of windows that adorned the houses I walked passed. Like people, they seemed to have individual personalities and I enjoyed looking for them as I walked by.

In doing so I couldn’t help but think about how people say ‘that eyes are the windows to your soul’ and wondered if it then follows that windows are the eyes into a houses soul- if such a thing exists. And if so what would the windows of the houses I was photographing say about the home they hid behind their glass.

Still musing these thoughts on the train ride home my eyes caught glimpses of strangers lives lit up in the dark from within. And I remembered how, as I child, I often made up stories about the people I saw, imagining why they were doing what they did and what they would be doing afterwards.

Again my mind drifted, this time to one of my all time favourite fairy tales: The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen. I loved the way, with the strike of a match, the wall to the house she sat huddled up to would turn into a see-through veil and display a life that she so longed for and dreamt of.

So maybe windows aren’t just the eyes to the soul of a home, but maybe they can also be an aperture into a world of fantasy and dreams, one that inspires to create and imagine – even if only for one’s own enjoyment

mystery tour in miserable weather

Tags

Galway, Ireland, meeting people, Mystery Trip, photography, photos, St Patrick's Day

Come join us on a mystery tour – how could that not catch my eye. So yesterday morning I headed out – much earlier than I would have liked – to Heuston Station, my camera bag hanging from my shoulder and no idea where I was  going. Once there a gaggle of people was receiving bright green wristbands, so I joined the queue and followed some stranger wearing green jackets onto a waiting train.

I didn’t know anyone there, but I wasn’t the only one and I soon became part of a lovely – very lively – group of soon to be friends. After a long train ride, filled with laughs and lots of chats, we arrived in Galway – our mystery destination!

Sadly the weather hadn’t changed and we were greeted by gray skies and lots of drizzle. Not wanting the weather to dictate how the day would go we set off – ten groups in all – to invade the lovely city of Galway and discover a few hidden gems along the way. As we grew wetter and our memory cards fuller, hours passed by as the day waned.

After a long up hill hike we ended up in Ardilaun Hotel – a lovely place but a long walk away from were we started – especially in the rain. Never have I longed more for a hot cup of tea and was rewarded with a hot brew served in a lovely cup. As we waited for dinner to be served all eyes drifted towards their phones as everyone instegrammed, liked and hashtagged. Sadly the dinner was not very good (small portions, no flavour and too expensive for what we got – cheap rolls and stew that was more like watery soup) but at least the company was great and we all had fun, found friends and new followers and followees.

Back on the train the laughter continued and once we set foot back on Dublin ground everyone was tired and happy. So even if the weather was miserable, it was a wonderful day – a mystery tour with marvelous people – and all thanks to the ever expanding #jjcommunity,  Josh Johnson and Kevin Kuster.

arriving at Galway train station

a bright pink square distracting me from the miserable gray skies

ribbons on a bridge

vendor selling his wares at the Galway market

dripping umbrella

hatseller enjoying a few quite moments

dry underneath a sunny yellow umbrella

flower seller

colourful tarps

not so securely tightened

a new friends shoes

another bridge

red catching my eye

a few lit candles

Galway cathedral turned its dome green for the occasion

steps up to the alter

looks to me like across between a monkey and a fish

more friendly shoes

water everywhere

even the pigeons looked for shelter on windowsills

changed meaning

some of the group

a cloud of sun

Tags

daffodils, flowers, home, photo, photography

With spring slowly scaring away the winds of winter it feels like the whole world is cheering up. So to cheer up my own home I decided to buy some happy daffodils to sit on my table. Now, when the sun shines in through the window, it’s as if a cloud of sun has moved in and I can’t help but smile.

a cloud of sun on my table

afternoon on the beach

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beach, Dublin, Ireland, kites, photography, photos, sandthorn, sea buckthorns, windy

Yesterday my neighbour, her little boy and I took a trip to the beach. Our main mission was to pick some sea buckthorns  (sandthorns). It’s tricky business cutting the berries from the branches, they are too soft to pluck as they burst between your fingers, so you need to cut them.  And since they are armed with long, pointy thorns cloves are a must. But since they are really healthy and yummy too it’s well worth – even if you have to freeze them for 24hours before you can use them.

Once we had filled our bags we decided to enjoy some time on the beach and unpacked spades, buckets and a kite. With the wind  reaching blustery heights the kite took of and a bee danced above our heads. Sadly the wind soon got too much, we had sand in our ears, our mouths and in our eyes, making it impossible to stay. So we built a final sand castle and said good-bye.

summer stroll

Tags

Ardgillan Castle, flowers, Ireland, photography, photos, summer, summer meadow, walk

My mother came for a visit and since we are having such glorious weather I took her for a walk around the grounds of Ardgillan Castle.

Ardgillan Castle – wild flower meadow

wild flower meadow

still green

poppies

faded

where sea and sky meet

out of season

International Literary Festival Dublin

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Anakana Schofiel, authors, Dublin, International Literary Festival Dublin, Ireland, Lucy Caldwell, reading, Selina Guinness, Svetlána Alexiévich, writing

Ireland is known for it’s writers and this week Dublin is celebrating all things literary. Yesterday evening I went to a talk with two wonderful Irish writers: Lucy Caldwell & Anakana Schofield. They both read from their books and engaged in a lively discussion about character, language and setting hosted by lecturer Selina Guinness.

It was truly inspiring to listen to two successful writers talk about what they do and listen to their hard won words. Sadly their weren’t that many people in the audience, those who didn’t go really missed out, but since we were such a small crowd I got the chance to exchange a few words with the authors – and both were generous with their time.

On the way home, a bright green bag holding Lucy Caldwell’s short story collection Multitudes swinging by my side, I felt really lucky to live in a city that celebrates  authors and gives them so much space.

me getting my book signed by Lucy Caldwell (courtesy of ILFD)

Tonight I will be listening to Svetlána  Alexiévich, the Belarusian investigative journalist and non-fiction writer who won the Noble Prize in Literature last year, the first journalist to ever have done so and only the second non-fiction writer since Winston Churchill in 1953 to have been given the prize. I can’t wait to hear what she has to say and hope to get my copy of her book signed.

There are more events I’ll be attending as the week turns into the weekend and I hope that by listening to all these acclaimed authors some of their words will steep into my fingers and help me on my own literary endevours.

 

 

 

 

between the Liberties and Ballybough

Tags

Ballybough, Bus, Dublin, Dublin bus, Dublinese, Ireland, photo, rhyming slang, The Liberties, travel

Since it’s been so cold and miserable, with hail and sleet raining down from grey skies, I have been taking the bus into work. I’ve tried a few different routes and have now settled on the 123 from Merino to Walkinstown. The bus takes me all the way from Ballybough Rd to the Liberties and back.

The Liberties are one of the oldest parts of Dublin and is now a growing media and tech hub. The old markets and historic buildings sit next to dynamic e-commerce centers. And whether they like it or now, gentrification is happening all around – yes there are hipsters and coffee shops sprouting like weeds between the dirty cracks of the streets.

Ballybough on the other hand is one of the more disadvantaged areas in Dublin. The name is accually derived from the term Bailebough, which in Irish comes from ‘baile’ (town) and ‘bocht’ (poor). Originally though Ballybough was known as Mud Island because of its proximity to the mud flats on which Fairview and North Strand are build.

While commuting between these two areas it becomes quickly apparent that the most colourful of Dublin residence live there. You’ll hear the ‘real’ Dublin accent and delight in their unique ability to turn a phrase or create their very own rhyming slang. And if Peter Wright, the author of “Cockney Dialect and Slang” is to be believed the Irish actually invented it to confuse the non-Irish workers.

So, if you hear someone is ‘headed to the rock-and-roll’ they’re off to collect the dole, if someone tells you ‘you’ll be brown bread’, it means you’ll be dead and if you’re a tea-leaf they think you’re a thief. One of my favorites is ‘cream-crackered’ for tired, and I love the Daniel Day when talking about the Luas (Dublin tram system).

This Dublenese is really wonderfully creative, after all who else but Dublin criminals would call someone who is unpredictable and hard to put down a Apache, or an undercover garda (Irish Police) as a ghost? And if you are ever referred to as a Micky Dazzler, they really think you’re a bot full of yourself and wear much too flashy clothes.

So if you ever are visiting Dublin or just want to enrich your vocabulary,  hop on to the 123 and take a trip with a few real Dubliners.

 

 

busy St Patrick’s Day

Tags

busy, Dublin, gardening, Ireland, photography, photos, St Patrick's Day, work

Happy St Patrick’s Day. Unusually the sun has decided to stick around so this year the parade with be bathed in sun, not rain. But for me – with a to-do-list longer than any the snake St Patrick drove out of Ireland – my day will be filled with work and chores.

While I type this the washing machine is on spin cycle and my mind is whirling around at the same speed – thoughts of what I need to do, what should be done and what I want to do all mixed up together, with the occasional ‘red sock’ grabbing my attention.

However I may just give myself an hour or two to tidy up my tiny back yard and do up my windowsills, plant some green in hour of our Irish patron Saint. And since it is a Bank Holiday here maybe I’ll even allow myself some time to read on my blue bench out in the sun.

the only green decorating my windowsill

a day in Dun Laoghaire

Tags

books, Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, Kevin Barry, literary festival, Nell Zink, photography, photos, Sundays

Books, literary readings, a market and sunshine – the perfect combination for a wonderful Sunday.

Yesterday I got on the dart and traveled the short distance down the coast to Dub Laoghaire and the Mountains to the Sea book festival. In the morning I listened to author Nell Zink in conversation with RTE’s Sinéad Gleeson. Zink read from her two books The Wallcreeper and Mislaid, spoke about being a writer before she even knew she was one and how Jonathan Franzen had trouble believing her.

In the late afternoon I was enchanted with Kevin Barry as he read from his wonderfully funny and clever Beatlebone. It was inspiring to hear what he had to say about writing and finding the right voice for the characters and stories he wants to tell.

I spent the hours in between the two events I wandering around Dun Laoghaire and taking a few pictures and enjoying a cappuccino in the sun.