Stephen chronicles life in COVID-hit Ireland in winning portrait series
Listowel man’s work featuring prominently in national media
IT takes a Listowel man to bring out the small-town sense of craic from the big city.
Over the course of the past two weeks, the wedding photographer has been walking, seemingly, every street and cul-de-sac of his adopted Dublin 6 on an extraordinary mission to chronicle the lives of its residents during the pandemic.
In doing so, he’s been bringing them all out of their homes in the spirit of the North Kerry craic he’s steeped in, and even fostering a new-found sense of community – as his subjects now look to themselves within a series of over 150 striking images.
The series is winning no little acclaim, with national media featuring his work in recent days.
Furloughed from the wedding industry awhile, Stephen got thinking fast: “I wanted to find a way to contribute something positive to my community, using my own skills, such that they are.
“I realised that I can still do what I do, from a small but safe distance, bless the telephoto lens, and take some family portraits,” he told The Kerryman.
“This is peak wedding season, and I would normally have been driving all over the country, sharing and capturing some beautiful moments with couples in love. This project has meant I have been able to continue my journey, meeting lots of amazing families, having the craic and taking pictures. Win-win!”
Within days of posting his plans on social media, he had over 150 families in his 5km-radius zone around his home in Rathmines eager to feature as one of his subjects.
“The 2km restriction initially meant I had to limit it to Dublin 6 – Rathmines, Ranelagh, Terenure, Harold’s Cross, Rathgar, Rathfarnham – but once the numbers started flowing in, I was pretty glad I had already set those limits!
“The best thing about this project is definitely meeting the characters, you never know who or what is behind the door until you knock. Maybe it is the type of people that are drawn to respond, but without exception everyone has been up for the craic, if it wasn’t for the accents you’d think you were wandering around somewhere like Listowel or
Finuge – storytellers, mad-hatters, craic-merchants, all of them!”
Stephen’s visit has come as manna from heaven for the kids in particular, climbing the walls of their tight city spaces for weeks on end. And the response from families has been nothing less than creative in the extreme.
“I’ve been laughing so much at times I have had to stop shooting and put the camera down. Especially the kids, they have been locked away for so long they get really into it when I call – putting on shows and being generally hilarious. Can’t bate a bit of Bedlam.
“At one home last week, the mom walked out against me with a chainsaw, cool as a breeze; the dad came out dressed in a suit from the waist up, pyjamas down below, and they staged a scene where he cut the kid’s hair, while on a work call, and she re-enacted the felling of a tree in their back garden. People like that make the world go round. They can’t hide the craic, be it at a wedding or at something like this – the craic will ‘out’. It is brilliant!”
It’s come as a blessed project for a photographer who just turned professional a few years ago: “I have been a photographer for as long as I can remember, but only in recent years did I turn pro.
“Things took a turn when a friend of mine asked me to be his wedding photographer. I was nervous and unsure but I agreed, a leap of faith on his part, and I suppose a leap of faith for me too. It ended up being the most life-changing wedding I ever attended – apart from my own, of course.
“I loved every minute of it, and I have loved covering every wedding since. There is an artistry to it, to capture and record the flow of the day, you have to naturally tune into it. There is a sort of song to the day – everyone is singing it – the couple and all the guests. If you are singing the right song when you ask the couple to try a creative, or mad, pose they will sing it back to you, everyone is relaxed and everything works in beautiful harmony, and the images will be spectacular.
“Similarly, some of the most stunning shots are the ones where the couple don’t know the camera is even there, maybe a private whisper and a smile together, simple things – if you are in tune, you almost get a sixth sense for when the magic moments will spark.
“When I get those shots, I just cannot wait for the couple to see them – there may be tears of joy – pictures can be very powerful and moving.”
In the temporary absence of the public wedding, Stephen has even taken to providing key advice for couples through a new video blog on his website www.stephenosullivan.ie.
“The latest was one called ‘ Corona Wedding Postponement: Five Tips to Thrive & Survive’, which has been shared and watched all over the world – that was really exciting for me, and the feedback was amazing.
“I had been speaking with my 2020 clients, and there was very little information out there and a lot of anxiety, so I decided to do a little research and post my findings.”
There’s just one litmus test his work has to pass:
“If my clients are happy, I am happy!”