A Portrait of Connemara is the first publication of the professional photographer Mark Joyce, a native of Connemara. The book which is both professional and personal, can only be called a photographic diary of the life that he has spent there. Being a visitor to Ireland, I could not help but notice that Irish people tend to forget how beautiful the landscape is that surrounds them. How lucky they are to be a part of what is referred to as ‘the green island’, that is shrouded in legend and whose culture is admired by the rest of the world.
A Portrait of Connemara is more than a reminder to the Irish people, it is a tribute to the author’s home using a very visual language that does not need words to communicate the message. Between green hills, sandy beaches along the Irish west coast and lonely roads, leading through the both meagre and rich landscape of Connemara, the author tells stories from his childhood, shares traditions from and useful facts about the area and invites the reader to join the journey across one of the most impressive regions of the country.
Photographs of wild landscapes are intertwined with those of small details that add a very interesting contrast and a child’s perspective that often reminds us of the little things in life and their importance. “As a child, I spent many happy hours drawing maps. These maps included both real and imaginary places. This was my method of recording time, my cartographic diary,” it says in the book, giving a very personal insight into how a childhood in Connemara must have been like. But one thing is for sure, while browsing through the photographs, their beauty will make you doubt if some of the places are real or if they are imaginary.
December 2015
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