Homesteads

The end of the twentieth century was imminent and I began to consider my position in relation to my past and future. I wanted to travel to Ireland where my parents were from in order to help me do that. The new millennium arrived bringing global economic boom. In 2002/03 I photographed throughout Ireland when the Irish economy was known as the Celtic Tiger. For the first time in its history Ireland was prospering and hopeful but I turned my lens on derelict homes where the evidence of past occupants haunted the images. What I found was the past remained untouched inside these homesteads. The houses stood as a testament to life and to death. When I entered these houses, which I had to sometimes break into, I saw the left behind relics, religious iconography, clothes, expired passports, old newspapers and cluttered surfaces. They all seemed reminiscent of my family home, the home I left behind, when my parents died and I had to move away. Dark, dank and dirty from years of abandonment these derelict houses had disturbing auras. I photographed everything as I found it and left it alone.