Tina Claffey, macro photographer and author of ‘Portal’ premiered in a brand-new documentary about bogs called ‘Untameable’. For almost 10 years, she lived in the wildernesses of Botswana, photographing the flora, fauna, and wildlife while working in the safari tourism industry. This experience awakened an appreciation for the natural world of her home country of Ireland, in particular its bogs and wetlands.
“I remember when I first began to explore them. I had been inspired by a walk in my local bog with botanist and geologist John Feehan in 2012, and he had encouraged us to look closely at the flora and fauna with the small hand lens he had given to each of us. The wonder of seeing the intricate beauty of the living carpet of the bog in such close detail unlocked a door to another realm. It was a walk that changed the course of my life. That day, I invested in a macro lens, which allows me to see and capture the flora and fauna up close. To truly see and capture these wonders, I have to slow down to the hum of life within the bogs and wetlands.”
‘Untameable’ is a journey into Seamus Heaney’s Bog Poems and Ireland’s wild bog landscape, diving into the haunting influence of ancient human sacrificial bodies excavated in Danish and Irish bogs. With Heaney’s poems being brought to life by Game of Thrones actress Michelle Fairley, the story seeks to cast a new light on our relationship with nature with captivating testimony from locals.
Bogs have long been regarded as places of sacrifice, inspiring artists and poets throughout history. They hold a unique place in the Western European wilderness, serving as an important source of fuel and carrying an air of mystery and ancientness that invokes fear and fascination.
Seamus Heaney described bogs as almost like the human psyche. At the beginning of his poem “Bogland,” he draws comparisons between the Irish landscape and the American landscape (prairie). Heaney connects the bogs to something akin to a memory bank, due to the preserved bodies of the murdered dead, and draws connections to the violence he was witnessing in Northern Ireland during the 1970s.
For centuries, bogs have provided a means of livelihood for many, however, the cessation of peat cutting has posed challenges for those directly affected, particularly in small towns where alternative opportunities may be scarce. Examining present-day life among the boglands, the film amplifies the voices of locals like Kevin McCormack, a former commercial peat cutter who has been greatly affected by legislative changes and turf bans, but also that of Chris Uys, a Namibian native who is leading a re-wilding project that showcases the transformation of once-desolated peatlands into a thriving wilderness.
To learn more about bogs and how they have inspired artists of all types, as well as their interesting history, make sure to check out the documentary Untameable on RTE.
Make sure to check out Tina Claffey’s book Portal, available now
