Ireland. PhotoIreland Festival 2013. New Irish Works 1-31 July.

Introduction by Angel Luis Gonzalez Fernandez, Festival Founder & Director. Catalog for festival held in Dublin, profusely illustrated. Wraps, 124 pages. Like new. Summary:

PhotoIreland Festival 2013: New Irish Works is the comprehensive exhibition catalog documenting the fourth edition of Ireland's premier international photography festival. Functioning as a vital survey of the island’s contemporary photographic landscape, the book serves as the permanent record for the festival's ambitious, multi-city centerpiece exhibition, which showcased selected Irish and international artists across separate cultural venues in Dublin, Limerick, and Cork.

The volume captures a critical turning point for Irish lens-based media by examining several key artistic and cultural shifts:

• Elevating Emerging Talents: The catalog anchors a festival explicitly dedicated to exposing a rising wave of exceptional, locally grown photographic talent. It highlights the work of practitioners who were achieving recognition and publication on the global stage but lacked established, formalized local channels to gain sustained visibility within Ireland.

• Thematic Diversity: Rather than adhering to a singular concept, the catalog reflects a broad cross-section of artistic approaches. The compiled projects range from abstract, open-ended conceptual narratives steeped in psychological ambiguity to works that consciously engage with, critique, and subvert traditional documentary practice.

• Local and Global Convergences: The publication charts a distinct evolution in how Irish photographers evaluate space and identity. The imagery demonstrates a sophisticated international influence, exploring the deeply intertwined complexities of immediate post-recession domestic realities alongside broader, globalized socio-political concerns.

• A Lasting Directory: Beyond individual project portfolios, the catalog functions as a crucial institutional reference tool. Featuring contributions from a diverse jury of domestic and international curators—including representatives from The Photographers' Gallery in London—the book tracks the projects of foundational contemporary voices like Dragana Jurišić, Paul Gaffney, Linda Brownlee, and Mandy O'Neill.

By preserving this expansive snapshot of creative output, the publication highlights the structural resilience and formal maturity of Irish photography during a period of national economic transition.