Baghdad Dawn Kate Nolan

In 1981, when I was just two, my family moved from Ireland to Baghdad for the following five years. My father was the photographer of our family and it’s his curated albums that I have been re-visiting, trying to understand and recollect our time there. A civil engineer and a tourist, the images switch easily between architectural, family album and holiday snaps. He was employed by a German company to work on the construction of a new modernist area, Haifa Street, designed by renowned architect Rifat Chadirji, under the direction of President Saddam Hussein.

For me, there are no real memories, just a sense of experience from what the family album evokes and the documents and ephemera my father has kept. Through my ongoing conversations with my parents and sister, I hear of the disconnect as ‘ex-pats’ from the local community, the fearlessness of my mother driving around Baghdad with her two young daughters in what was technically wartime, and I continuously question my memories of what felt like a long holiday.
(Source: https://www.thelibraryproject.ie/collections/tlp-editions/products/baghdad-dawn-kate-nolan)

About the Artist
Kate Nolan is an Irish visual artist based in Dublin, Ireland, focused on extended photographic stories that examine the nature of identity. Drawn to “in-between” places, she is intrigued by the effects of shifting histories of areas in flux. Nolan collaborates with local communities over extended periods to give voice to these changes. Her latest project LACUNA, is a multi-disciplinary project considering the contemporary experience, physical and psychological impact of the partition on the children of the borderlands. LACUNA is currently showing as part of ARCHIPELAGO in the Royal Hibernian Academy, Sep-Dec 25 and has been exhibited widely since it’s first solo in the Photo Museum Ireland, Dublin, Ireland in September – October 2017. This work has been funded by the Irish Arts Council and Irish Research Council. Her work is held in public and private collections in Japan, USA, France, Portugal, Mexico, UK and Ireland. Co-founder of Island Photographers, an artist-led group raising awareness, understanding and engagement with contemporary photography within Ireland.
https://www.katenolan.ie
(Source: https://www.katenolan.ie/about)

About the Publisher
PhotoIreland grows the reputation of Irish artists globally through a 360 degree support system and platform for contemporary photography, activated through a diversity of projects. These include events such as PhotoIreland Festival and Halftone print fair amongst others; resources such as the PhotoIreland Collection, a specialised research library of photobooks, and Ireland’s Art Bookshop, The Library Project; via publishing with projects such as OVER Journal and TLP Editions; professional development support through networking and consultancy opportunities; and empowering early and mid-career photographers via our international partnerships, most relevantly through Creative Europe co-funded platforms such as FUTURES and Parallel.
https://photoireland.org
(Source: https://photoireland.org/about-photoireland)