By Holly Stuart Hughes
Irish Travellers, Tinkers No More
Photographs by Alen MacWeeney
Introduction by Bairbre Ní Fhloinn
132 pages/$60
New England College Press
Photographer Alen MacWeeney first photographed a group of
Travellers—the nomadic people native to Ireland—in 1965 while on a
magazine travel assignment. He spent the next six years living
alongside them in their campsites on the outskirts of towns,
recording their songs, stories and details of their hard-scrabble
lives. Known for shooting elegant portraits and interiors,
MacWeeney here shot in black and white. The images are often
nostalgic, but MacWeeney goes beyond picturesque shots of
grubby-faced urchins; a few of his penetrating close-ups of weary
men and women bring to mind the work of Dorothea Lange. The book's
text includes folktales, lyrics to traditional songs, and a helpful
essay by Irish historian Bairbre Ní Fhloinn. Ireland has changed a
lot since the Sixties, and so has the Traveller community, largely
due to government regulation on their movements and trade, but
their numbers have grown from about 7,000 during MacWeeney's first
visit to an estimated 25,000 today. MacWeeney returned in 1997 to
make a film about the community, but this book languished until
now. Given MacWeeney's dedication to the subject, it's regrettable
that this volume doesn't include a follow-up to show what remains
of Traveller culture amid their country's booming economy.
Irish Travellers, Tinkers No More
Dec 2, 2007
By Holly Stuart Hughes
Irish Travellers, Tinkers No More
Photographs by Alen MacWeeney
Introduction by Bairbre Ní Fhloinn
132 pages/$60
New England College Press
Photographer Alen MacWeeney first photographed a group of Travellers—the nomadic people native to Ireland—in 1965 while on a magazine travel assignment. He spent the next six years living alongside them in their campsites on the outskirts of towns, recording their songs, stories and details of their hard-scrabble lives. Known for shooting elegant portraits and interiors, MacWeeney here shot in black and white. The images are often nostalgic, but MacWeeney goes beyond picturesque shots of grubby-faced urchins; a few of his penetrating close-ups of weary men and women bring to mind the work of Dorothea Lange. The book's text includes folktales, lyrics to traditional songs, and a helpful essay by Irish historian Bairbre Ní Fhloinn. Ireland has changed a lot since the Sixties, and so has the Traveller community, largely due to government regulation on their movements and trade, but their numbers have grown from about 7,000 during MacWeeney's first visit to an estimated 25,000 today. MacWeeney returned in 1997 to make a film about the community, but this book languished until now. Given MacWeeney's dedication to the subject, it's regrettable that this volume doesn't include a follow-up to show what remains of Traveller culture amid their country's booming economy.
