"The NORTHERN FAMILY" Part IV

I have set up a blog to record the actual process of taking the images for this part. It is the photography of the community in the 'Village' area of South Belfast. Full details are at the Blog which you can go to by clicking HERE..

This will I hope be a big success and if the enthusiasm of everyone I have spoken to so far is an indicator it should be great.

"The Northern Family Part II

Click here to go to the Exhibition Gallery.

Friday, May 11, 2007 PRESS RELEASE

"THE NORTHERN FAMILY" – IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

An enterprising photographer has come up with a novel way of bringing Art to the people. Award winning Belfast photographer Louis McCullagh is staging N.Ireland's largest ever-outdoor exhibition of giant photographs.

Visitors to the Balmoral Show, at the RUAS grounds in Belfast from Wednesday 16 – 18 May (9.30am – 8.00pm), will be able to see a unique display of giant images hanging on the outside walls of the Alexander Hall.

This is the second part of 'The Northern Family', Louis' ongoing major project capturing daily life, work and play in N.Ireland, which now has over 8000 images.

Said Louis: "My photographs are unposed and natural, I want to capture the essence of daily life. I passionately believe this is important not just for us but to reveal the real N.Ireland to the rest of the world.

"Selecting the final 30 giant colour images from the original 1700 was very difficult. I hope each image tells a small story about the various individuals and together these precious moments of friendship, humour and life tell the big story of the Balmoral Show.

"From the babe in arms being fed in the pen and watched over by the family's prize sheep to the older men laughing together in a pig pen as they relax and enjoy their 60th year of coming to the Balmoral Show. That joy and happiness is what I want to share with others," he said.

The exhibition is hosted and supported by the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society together with Arts & Business.

Above Photograph

Alfie Martin and Walter Johnson at their 60th Balmoral Show (May 2006)

END

Additional Notes

Louis McCullagh was born in Belfast. In October 2006 he won the prestigious 'Peter Grugeon' Trophy at the Annual British Professional Photographers Awards (for the best portfolio of images) beating photographers from around the world.

He has also won many local and national awards. This exhibition is the second in 'The Northern Family' series. The first was in August 2006 when he was given the whole of The Linenhall Library in Belfast to stage his exhibition about childhood and education in N.Ireland. Louis has funded all of the work to date; he is actively seeking government/corporate sponsorship.

The very best images will be selected from each of Louis' exhibitions to create the final major international exhibition "THE NORTHERN FAMILY" (a portrait of life in N.Ireland today) this will introduce a new and different face of N.Ireland to the world as we emerge from our troubled past.

Photographer Contact details:

Louis McCullagh BSc DPAGB ABIPP

www.respectphotography.com

E: louis@respectphotography.com

M: 077 3147 1175

Tel: 02890 207699

The Northern Family - Part I

Click here to go to the Exhibition Gallery.

Click here to go to photographs of the exhibition space at the Linen Hall Library .

"The Northern Family" Folio I

A series of detailed photographic essays of life in N. Ireland.

"The Northern Family" is a major project being undertaken by Louis McCullagh to record ordinary life in Belfast/N.Ireland. This will cover all aspects of life and work by all age groups/sections of the community.

The main impetus behind the project is the thought that whilst in previous decades many photographic essays of daily life and work were commissioned for magazines this is no longer the case with the dominance of TV and the Internet. There is no shortage of images of 'The Troubles in N.Ireland' but who is recording ordinary daily life in any sort of systematic or detailed way.

Louis' heroes are Willi Ronis, Robert Doisneau, Lewis Hine and August Sander who recorded the ordinary life of their respective countries' citizens with a special emphasis on street life and workers. August Sander went a bit further and photographed various groups of people brought together by work, art and communities.

The first part is the 3500+ images taken of Stranmillis Primary School from which 55 images have been selected for this exhibition. Louis has recorded not just the activities of the staff and children but the atmo sphere and emotions of school life and indeed childhood itself. This is the first time ever that a school has been the subject of such an in depth study.

The second part is 1700+ images of the Balmoral show taken in 2006 which form a major exhibition at the 2007 show from 16-18 May07.

The method of working is to select a specific subject and then record all aspects related to that subject through the medium of photography. The photographs are all unposed and natural giving a genuinely authentic glimpse of ordinary life.

Each of the subjects can be regarded as a piece of a big jigsaw; over time these pieces together will form a clear picture of life in Northern Ireland today.

It is intended that the images recorded of the business/community life will give special attention to small businesses/services, particularly those that are in danger of disappearing. The subjects will include: work, play, sport, religion, particular locations, specific communities, music and events.

"The Northern Family" is therefore not a record of places but a record of how we live our daily lives.

This initial work in the project has not been funded by any organisation but it is hoped that this exhibition will encourage both public and private involvement. Many thanks are due to The Linenhall Library and British Telecom for their support of the exhibition.

Framed prints can be obtained by emailing Louis at Respectphotography