Enda Bowe

0:04[Applause]

0:14the ammonium send them from County Carlow is a small town and middle of Ireland I've lived in London for 20 years now but often going back and forth Ireland in other places developing this thing.

0:27That's become my own these novelistic kind of ideas inspired us both being an Irish girl you look to write with a lot and poetry and feelings and that and that I kind of brought those things into the photography I do yeah most of my projects are novelistic and cinematic and mixing up elements to make a journey that literally doesn't speak about the idea but you you feel you feel the emotions of the place and if this is the sources in the story I liked rather than painting at a literal literal picture the projects have always been concerned with people's stories with people's humanity with the emotional journeys that bind us all. And we all showed you some ocean of journeys and I think this is what unifies us as a planet and also what really goes through my work is the search for hope in our everyday lives in the everyday places we live I love to search for light and beauty in ordinary places I'm from a very ordinary great town I think where you come from you might even you might like it.

1:44But it defines who you become and you know I left for us from when I was 18 I just wanted to get away from the place and start again and then you find that you know the only language you have - makes you kind of different is the one that you know. And if you're true to yourself I think this is kind of how you you formulate a language and so after leaving what I knew I returned to incarnate and developed the story into in Finnish novelistic stories one of my favorite writers is a John Megara and his background was so similar to mine I use my dad was so the police sergeant we lived in a village we lived in the police station my mom was a teacher as was John McCarran and in fact his estate have just given me permission to use one of these stories to make into a film which would leave my my next project but one of John's and lines was the ordinary is the most precious thing in life. And that's my big inspiration you know the the ordinary things we do someone waiting in a bus stop someone walking on the road someone just pausing and thinking there are things I've really focused on in my life I suppose I should probably just turn on the picture when I was young was a very very shy young guy and my mom had a she was a as I said a teacher and she had a twin reflex camera and she never let me take any pictures with it it was too expensive but I was always looking through it.

3:22And imagining worlds and observing people and and I couldn't I didn't have the worst express how I felt but I could I've developed my language to noticing people sort of using their expressions and this became what I really specialized in my life was just going past what's on the outside and trying to get to the heart of the person the subtleties dr. Carrion not having any judgments maybe not knowing too much information one of the things I really didn't like growing up was someone would ask where you're from and they've made your mind up already you're that type of person what age you're this type of person what's your surname or you're connected to that family or this type of person I mean it's so link ring on who we are as people there's so much to us and where we're from what age we are what her name is this is this is kind of what led into this project loss forests on those forests song and said in Belfast between the Shanklin the Falls Road Shanklin Falls is separated by the peaceful separates Union is the National communities parts of the peaceful and Belfast's are taller than the Berlin Wall ever was my the project I wanted to do was focusing on you culture on either side of the peaceful but not focusing on the usual political icons religious icons I wanted to use very subtle symbolisms and make the pictures not recognizable where they were taken taking out all contexts of the background and the reason being was was going back to this idea of if you say in Belfast I'm from shankle the personal thing or you're a union is you say I'm from Falls or you're a nationalist there's so much more to other lives again than any identity you know where were born inherent qualities of love and care and feelings and these are what I'm interested in it doesn't matter watch your back on this we're all you were all United and this is where it began around the the bonfire on the 12th July in shankle and the a July on the Falls and this far is actually 25 meters tall. And I was on top of it last year. And I've been deployed for about six years I've never got on top of a fire and I can guarantee no no one person ireland has ever been on top of a fire and by the way is there anyone else from ireland here hey hello and so it was a real moment for me and and what I loved about it was it's one of the things which are most special photography photography can enable you to enter a community that's just no way you would have entered before like when I started this well.

6:35That's the first visit was seven years ago.

6:37And I walked by one of these fires and just a lot of kids throw stones at me you know kind of got out of there pretty quick and in the next year found out a producer who worked in the area and I made an appointment we I met somebody was like a Dell boy of the the shankel area we had a meeting in the shop which coincidentally was the base of the UVF in the background which is kind of terrifying but Paul was a really really lovely guy who really cared about young people he didn't believe that I wasn't interested in politics as I was interest in this area idea of photograph a new culture on either side and creating this exhibition where all the pictures will be in unison and you won't know where each picture has taken you'll just see the you people the young people as young people as you know as people who like Nike or who like added us you know and as simple as simple as that.

7:32And then Paul got me into the communities and I slowly earned my way through a lot of visits and a lot of hours this pictures is one of the examples I mean of just using subtle symbolisms you know I like I like just a tiny bit of color would signify something in the pictures and of course with this one is to redden is to red and white how the where this come provide ear came from which has been there most of my life since I got into photography was when I was a student which is a few years ago now early 90s 91 I Arlen was an awful awful master the troubles are so bad there is you know recession and emigration.

8:22And then you're hammered by all these people killing each other in the Nord and then your own again perspective from the news and I needed to find out myself what what was going on.

8:31And so I went up to stay in Laura game which was a really political hot spot for a few days against the will of my parents but at least he let me go because they were so worried there was such a fear of the north in the south and in lorig and I stayed with his family and kind of made up my own mind what was going on within that time you know because this man Tony was taking me around and he we got stopped by soldiers the number of time he said end or whatever you dude you don't speak you know it's just 21 Singh what is going on I believe it or not to be long hair big parka scruffy guy and told us the coolest photographer in the world you know and he said don't take your camera don't speak and we'd walk around we went to the bazaar thing was we went to a Catholic nightclub which I just found really crazy and then the next day we were walking on all these different estates and I noticed on the unionist estates all the little children were wearing red track suits and I noticed on the Catholic states all the little children were wearing green track suits and of course.

9:42Now that was it that was that's what I was looking for everyone from the very beginning they were born was may believe they were different and they were different from the people over there so no one had made their minds up it's all a conditioned thinking I didn't have the visual knowledge to make it into a project and Paul Graham at the time was shooting it and he he used doing those symbols which are discovered years later but it never left me. And it's defined everything I did its most project Donders it's grey areas as ordinary places but I'm focusing on a color as the brightness I'm looking for someone light and something with optimism in the in the picture and years later I want I came to this project I also don't like doing projects when they're topical so six seven years ago Northern Ireland was forgotten about Belfast is forgotten about thank God because there was nothing happening you know was became or it became ordinary instantly that's when the thing becomes interesting when it's really desorden Airy of course to some watch in the order interested so much happening in their nuts when I wanted to start photographing new culture each eater started peaceful because in this early birth us people are still scared of each other.

11:07And so I started started a project and many nights and just photographed on the focus on the aspirations of these people of their hopes and dreams that we all have as I was doing the porters I was trying some of them worked and some didn't work. And I was trying to do things that happen around the forest but they're all set up pictures I wrote a list of pictures things I'd like to do maybe somebody holds a bocce in their kitchen that could be a nice picture you know it's just a not as a normal thing in normal everyday life but again as you can see just choosing those colors of red white and blue to add layers to the picture this picture might become my next project in Belfast I've met so many beautiful people there one of them was this man Jim who led me to this picture he owns a body shop and he's Belfast and I went in and said oh yeah I'd love to photograph somebody hold on the Bochy anyone she said I can't really help you know they're in heat at the moment and he said you could come back next year I said okay I'll come back next year and sure enough then three years ago. I went back to Jim said oh you remember me last year I was looking to photograph someone holding a pochi and he says no worries at all son my niece is great with butchie's and you can come over to my house tomorrow and will photograph the Bochy so so I went the next day to Jim's house and such a lovely man he was actually the most amazing man of me and the whole time is spent in Belfast when he was seven door smashed open IRA came in killed his dad in front of him at that young age he decided never to judge anybody never to hold any arc anger and that's how he lived his life so he set up this body shop which sold bodies to bold communities he is friends and bought communities so this Bochy man became for me a real symbol of how positive people can be if they don't let what they believe or having heritage that they think to believe get in the way of living their lives and I'll just say hello to is quite sick now Jim and I'm just gonna say hello Chino I'm thinking of you many nights were spent out at the fire at the fires in both communities I thought that the reason the guys well there's a there's a lot going on the quick story the first time I got there Paul introduced with three states each a state is run by kind of a hard man or a man of maybe you've had you know military convictions in the past and they'd say and is okay and he put out the word and it's okay look after me he's alright and the kids go Robin Palace and the more in the first state I went to after who made my introduction to the shank of the state there was already I walked in there kind of 12-pack of beers or 20 pocket beers River was when they said alright large how's it going know these youth locked rounded alright and data did they were having a bit of a joke because I thought they'd graffitied on the wall freed the shank of six some of the lads have been lifted that morning Robin pallets it's part of the journey by the end of that night and the ball was written on the world.

14:46But they hang out at these forests and I just thought it's just kind of it is they have nothing to do it's really tough in inner Belfast there's no money put away and there's a whole other side to it and what the press show which is it's a way of the guys that they bond you know they have a good time they've got something to do to get up to a bit of mischief the film.

15:05This is England was very prevalent in my mind the whole time of him working on this I've been lucky to work with shame at is in the past you know that the camera didn't miss you something to do you've got nothing you got to try and do something and but it was more than that what is they opted for assay on either community say this this far I was on well I shouldn't say in this community disciple night because the other community is trying to get over him rock and light the fire before the actual date of the fire should be lit.

15:35So they're all honestly go over and torch each other as far as so this is what I found why we stayed out all night this picture I really like I I wish the flag wasn't there because I I was trying to avoid all this stuff I know you I've taken it out once and I just thought but I never read torch everything is done for real and it needs to remain but it's sorting the background but but in the pictures I'm always trying to do different angles like a portrait is more than just looking down the barrel of a lens to me I used to always do that type of stuff that's where I own my emotional thing.

16:14But it's a picture can be loaded in story like a film and cinema is such a massive inspiration to me.

16:20That's why I shoot in a big nerd with pictures like maybe 40 because you're trying to create the change in feelings and emotions that are in a film.

16:31But then when you break it down to just a picture also a picture is like a film you know it's it's loaded full of stories is why is he's looking left what's he see now where's the space why is that flap out there what what's filling the frame. And this is the beauty of photography I try I tried to load stuff with so much information to to make us think about about what we're looking at but then in an exhibition no one picture is more important than the other again that goes back to no one of us is more important to the other world we all unified it's about space encoder and honor feelings this is the view of the belt bump from the bomb far goes on last year as you see it's a tough area these kids grew up in in tough area so they get all these bits of scrap they build it together and they and they form support for each and for each other as the project was unfolding and I was getting you know wanting to try different types of portraits I was writing down notes things I wanted to photograph are ordering things a girl takes a phone so then recreated these pictures I'd go around with this picture in mind trying to see someone near a phone or maybe other phone and then approach and say hey I'm doing this project I really like to do you a photograph of you and yourself in this way would you be okay and most of the time people would be would say yes which is brained and then I try and stage it like a cinematic moment where it's not so much about me or the photographer it's you're just trying to create a portrait of a moment in time. And that's really what all my work has evolved into it the portrait isn't just a portrait of the person in front to me it's the whole space is it's a moment the whole space is the portrait I was very grateful this this girl right her boyfriend kindly stepped out of the way so make it to the picture once doing it I was also photographing things that back to this idea of separating ourselves from her conscious mind from the things we've taken on the things we believe we are which often we haven't thought about when we look at the sky or a picture to see we often have a moment of clarity where we forget who we are and that's the reason I have these other pictures of beauty running through you know when you look at the sky you I'm not a union so not an Ashes so I'm just under and this is beautiful and this is what Lynx is all.

19:12And this is the reason these slowly poetic pictures run through the project Rockit was one of my main man he was such a great guy and we become great great friends and we stayed up all night at this fire I mean it was the Wild West but rocklers with me the whole time. And this is probably about it's midsummer sorta half 4:00 in the morning one of the best things about photography is as I was talking before you you want to do a project you really want to a project you don't know how you're gonna start it the people there probably don't even want you to come there but you go in and you say what the camera needs go I want to make a project about you. And it opens the door no matter where you're from because no one with my accent hangs out on these estates but the camera is such a vehicle tours is such a gift and a blessing that it opens up doors and would be we make friends with people we never would have made friends before. And we share experiences we never would have had thanks to the gift we've been given and to anyone here as a photographer I'd say just remember that you're given such a gift and this is what enables you to go into the world and make friends and make you know new experiences now I've got friends like Rakesh I'm friends in both communities texts meet you're going you're up are you about to surrender who needs a hand stacking some pallets you know she's like and that's what the whole project is about I to drop any of my premonitions of what people are like and they had to drop them both me and their to draft him about themselves and we were just equal term friends the for the fires under national lights of the burning I kind of stay away from showing the obvious thing of flags being burned them.

21:04But I was more interested in the celebration of beauty again you know the sculptural qualities of the fire again these are things that take us away from ourselves or political ideas and just photograph on the beauty you know the things that people have achieved in this time which takes about two months to build them one of the hot days and in Belfast everyone got a little bit sunburned but we don't get much sunshine in Belfast this guy was a d his nickname was hammerhead that's his daughter Heidi this is the first picture I took he was very worried of me at first but then we became friends as well Heidi was nervous of me I think look at that picture but we became friends as well.

21:55And this.

21:59This is how this is how this journey evolved walking around and both of us approaching people finding connections looking at the beauty in the place the things connect us all one of the reasons I make pictures is there such an emotional debt to every one of us no matter how ordinary our lives we may think our lies our our lies are just as beautiful dramatic as everybody else's all the joy and stillness the subtleties of emotion that are in our everyday are what links is all.

22:41And that's what this project is about is it's the emotions that link is all the motion narrative of everybody's life is interesting and this is what I'm drawn to how we live how we turn what we're feeling the whole world shares these reasons the whole world lives like this.

23:04So this is this is this journey this is a journey of young people's emotions in both of us around the fire sharing times sharing and at hopefully not judging each other.

23:20This is one of the last portrait I did last summer this young girl she'd had a slight disability as my brother Dara does she was so beautiful such a loving caring girl without any perception of who I was there was no judgment she she's an icon for this whole project is to look at each other without any judgment I wanted to end this talk and dedicated to the late John Hume who was the architect of the Good Friday Agreement which is really suffering every day with what's going on right now John Hume wasn't increase old man humans human rights activist a Nobel Prize winner for his efforts in the piece trillion in Northern Ireland difference is of the essence of humanity we're all every one of us is different and we need to celebrate it thanks very much [Applause]