Garvan Gallagher

b. 1974, Ireland

This is a story about growing old. It is a story of a small village in Co Donegal, in the northwest of Ireland. It is mostly a story of some of the inhabitants of this small village, people who happen to be adults from my childhood. It is a story about their perfectly normal lives photographed in their perfectly normal homes.

Every day we are confronted with images of the so-called perfect body and urged to acquire commodities that promise much. As is often the case, senior citizens are rarely represented in the media in a fair and balanced way. Our obsession with youth and glamour and our inherent fear of mortality may feed this under-representation and misrepresentation. The glossy magazine presents and promises a world of youth and beauty, nurturing the belief that old is ugly and something that should be resisted and concealed.

In an attempt to rupture this notion, this project brought me back to the adults I knew as a child, who are now senior citizens. The subjects range from 65 to 98 years of age (the eldest in my hometown). Those photographed include my secondary school principal, the lady who taught me the accordion, the postman, my very first teacher, and some neighbours I have only recently come to know. Each subject stares into the camera under an artificial light, holding the cable release that runs back to the camera, each in control of their own portrait. Disposable cameras given to the participants provide a second perspective, which is presented in a book. These snapshots present an alternative look at the reality of growing old, which is something that is lacking in our consumer culture.

(Text: reading the city catalogue, 2009)