The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
New book on the horizon for Killarney’s Peter
IT’S a measure of how much the work of Killarney photographer Peter Cox is admired locally and around the world that it took his latest Kickstarter fundraiser less than 10 days to reach its target of €19,000.
All of this money will now go towards producing Peter’s latest book, which will focus on a part of Kerry that is very close to his heart: the Skelligs.
His book, which is set to be released by August of this year, is entitled ‘The Skelligs: Islands at the Edge of The World’.
Peter – whose gallery is located at 5 Plunkett St in Killarney – says that this new book will be the ‘definitive book of photographs of these mystical and mythical Atlantic islands’.
Speaking to The Kerryman last week about the book and the success of the fundraiser, Peter opened up on his love for the islands and how he has been lucky enough to spend a few overnight stays there on the famous rocks.
“I’m very grateful to everyone who has donated to it. When you press play on these things [the fundraisers], you always wonder whether there’s going to be crickets chirping and tumbleweeds flowing, so it was very gratifying to see all the support that was out there,” he said on Thursday.
“I’m always drawn to wild and remote places. It was back in the early 2000s that I first became aware of the Skelligs. I didn’t know they existed until then, and I just sort of learned that these islands were there, and I just thought that they were an incredible sounding place.”
“It was a couple of years before I was able to get out there for the first time, but as soon as I did, I mean, it’s the combo of the physical landscape of the place and also the cultural and historic nature of them, the whole thing just marries together so well,” he continued.
“I’ve been all over the world, I’ve been to the Antarctic, the Arctic, Greenland, all sorts of incredible places, and the Skelligs are still, for my money, my favourite place on Earth.”
With such obvious love for one of Kerry’s great natural sights, Peter said that this love was only greatly enhanced when he spent a few days there – first back in 2012, and more recently in December of last year.
“In early December last year, we had a few days of really stable weather and some good conditions. Spending the night there is something that I will carry with me until the day I die. It was magical,” he said.
As for what people can expect if they purchase the book, here’s what Peter had to divulge:
“The images in this book were captured from boats, aircraft and from Skellig Michael itself. I’ve been fortunate enough to stay overnight on the island. This is something very few people have done, and it enabled me to make photographs in light that no tourist ever sees,” he said.
“It will be a hard cover, coffee table book with 128 glossy, high-quality pages. Each spread features a full-page image, with descriptive text on the facing page. There is also an outline map pinpointing the image’s location and the full exposure details for the photograph itself. There are also several double-page spreads with panoramic images,” he said.
Having now reached his first goal of €19,000, Peter has now added a ‘stretch goal’ of €42,000 which, if reached, will go a long way in helping to keep his business afloat during the difficult COVID-19 times.
Anyone who wishes to lend anything towards this new goal can go to the link on the ‘Peter Cox Photography Gallery’ Facebook page.