Artist Statement: Hugh Mac Conville ‘A Special Place’
In my photographs, I try to capture the subtlety of light and to express the wonderment I feel at how light and landscape can change in an instant. I have always been fascinated by howthe colour of the light that falls on the landscape can change dramatically depending on the time of day or what the clouds are doing. Even a small change in the direction of the windcan change the colour of the light. When all of these elements in the composition of a photograph come together, it can evokevery strong feelings or remind us of memories of the past.
I love photographing the west of Ireland landscape because of the combination of sea,mountain, bogs and the ever-changing light. To capture it is a never-ending task that can never be completed as there will always be something more to see. This is why I consider myself to be so lucky in having lived here for last forty years.
In composing my pictures I have been more influenced by painters than by photographers. As a teenager I used to wander around the art galleries in Dublin, soaking up the imagescreated by painters like Paul Henry and Jack B. Yeats. Hoping to emulate them, I got my first camera when I was 15 years old and I have been creating my pictures ever since.
