Artist Statement

Drawing by Judith Quain

Once I got my first camera in America, I was drawn to photograph people. I was fascinated by how the camera enabled me to express my emotions in this new land. I developed very strong feelings about not ‘stealing’ shots of people. Asking for people’s permission before photographing them became by modus operandi. Inevitably, some people refused. However, this approach made for more intimate shots when I was able to engage with my subjects.

After a number of years, I returned to Ireland with my camera. Photographing there felt so different. It was as if I were seeing Ireland and its people for the first time but with surprising feelings, that until then, had been unconscious. Even a simple path across a field evoked feelings about a people and a landscape that I missed. As my images got closer and closer to ‘home’, I began to more fully understand how the feel of a photograph was so important. The camera stirred emotions of what I had left behind.