Pop Art and Pocket Screens
Daniel Buren’s wall at Tottenham Court Road does most of the work for you. It’s fifty feet of saturated circles and diamonds, all bouncing off those merciless black-and-white stripes. I just had to wait. Two strangers soon obliged: he slumped against a blue diamond mid-text, and she tucked into a green circle taking what looked…
Flamenco Frills on a Valencian Pavement
Valencia in late October had just been rinsed by a quick shower, and the pavement was still glossy when this little party walked past me. The two women had gone all-in on the traje de flamenca. The ruffles stacked like waves, fresh blooms pinned into their hair, and a peach-coloured shawl folded neatly over one…
Brooms and a Brolly
A London street sweeper, fully kitted out in orange hi-vis, has parked his cart, bristling with upright brooms like some sort of municipal hedgehog, outside the Brompton Oratory and is holding a big black umbrella over himself for shade. It was roasting that day. Umbrellas aren’t just for the rain. They are very useful portable…
Elvis the Taxi Driver
Derry “Elvis” Coughlan is a local taxi driver in Cork. Here he was on St. Patrick’s Street in 2021. He was walking towards an older man with bags of shopping who would probably need a lift home. I don’t think I’ve seen Derry around since then. Not someone who appears to have an online presence…
A chance match in Catalonia
I spotted her first, then the bush, then the coincidence. Walking through Palafrugell one July afternoon, I saw this lady carrying her shopping bag back from the market. I kept the frame cropped tight: no face, just arm, fabric, and the tanned, weathered hand holding a shopping bag off to the side. This is probably…
Moya Brennan at Cork Opera House
The news broke this morning that Moya Brennan passed away yesterday, and this photo has been on my mind ever since I heard. I took it at Cork Opera House on the 2nd of March 2020, during Clannad’s Farewell Tour. What a strange, loaded date that turned out to be. Barely a fortnight later the…
Sant Martí from the Side Street
Several years ago I’d been wandering around the narrow streets of Palafrugell’s old town when I came across the Sant Martí de Palafrugell and I loved to see it in the early morning light. The sky was perfectly clear which isn’t great but the surrounding streets were quiet and it seemed appropriate. Everything was still….
Gold on the Mountain at Gougane Barra
The cloud had been sitting on the mountains all morning like a hat pulled down over its eyes, and then for about fifteen minutes the sun broke through low and side-on and set the entire rock face above Gougane Barra on fire. The golds and ambers were almost absurd. It was the kind of light…
The Most British Office in London
Someone chose to put two Union Jack armchairs and an exercise ball in their office window for all of London to see. I spotted this walking past an office block and the arrangement stopped me mid-stride. The chairs are proper wingbacks, upholstered in full flag regalia, flanking a slightly deflated-looking exercise ball that’s doing its…
Masked Normality: Life in Cork One Year After COVID-19
A year after COVID-19 hit Irish shores and people were still being extra careful, even wearing masks outside where there was little risk of infection. Better to be safe than sorry. Here we are in 2026, and people are still denying that COVID-19 was a problem, while there’s a screenshot going around of a tweet…
Nollaig Shona Duit
“Nollaig Shona Duit” through the years, from 2022, 2024 and 2025. From one end of St. Patrick Street to the other.
Racing Through the Dandelions
Horses charge past at the Dawstown Point-to-Point in 2018, County Cork.