Ghostwalking: Dublin 1992-2005

Ghostwalking: Dublin 1992-2005 is a collection of photos I took on long drifting walks around the city when I lived there (with and without my camera). They date from the latter period but I wanted the title to reference my entire life in there, which encompassed the whole of my twenties and into my early thirties. These photos along with other creative projects and experiences I had there during this time encouraged me to become a visual artist in 2003 (I left for the countryside in 2005). Returning to any of these locations today and Dublin itself truly makes me feel like a ghost from my own past and even on those walks I remember the feeling of not being truly connected (particularly in places that were new to me).

All of the images were taken with a 35mm SLR camera, which was my first ‘proper’ camera. While still learning and experimenting, I was already trying to shoot something timeless, my No People Here aesthetic is mostly intact here. Looking back at them today, despite living in the city, I recognise the same rural type images I often take today. Of course, a city is always in a state of flux and many of the locations have since changed radically; eg. the path with the burned out car on the Royal Canal now runs alongside a string of apartments and the rusty industrial building on the quays is long gone and was closed even then. I’m glad to see that some places haven’t changed, such as the port and the long steps I shot close to IMMA. Weirdly, a time lapse I took of the Dublin to Sligo train is a route that today I travel myself for visits to Dublin. When selecting the work almost twenty years later a few of them struck me anew; eg. the very Nosferatu-like line of buildings running along the Liffey near Heuston Station, although very fitting for the birthplace of Bram Stoker.

One of my considered names for this project was Map of the City and these images certainly work as a personal map and even diary for me. One example of this is that I spent a lot of time over the years exploring sections of the Phoenix Park as I lived right outside its wall on Blackhorse Avenue and some of these images come from there. I like how they all look together and hope you enjoy these early works that, with one exception, I have never shown before.

Stephen Rennicks

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