Making Space
Noel Bowler
Gallery of Photography
English
Text by Colin Graham.
Hardcover
64 pages
170 x 240 mm
2011
ISBN 9781907918018
Making Space is a timely exploration of the expansion and coexistence of the Islamic faith in contemporary Ireland. Made over the course of three years, this work records the adaptive reuse of spaces for the purpose of prayer by diverse Islamic communities across Ireland.
These images reveal the quiet transformation of everyday spaces in urban, residential and rural locations and records how private homes, warehouses, office spaces and industrial units are being turned into spaces for prayer, providing a unique record of a major though not widely acknowledged, change in Ireland’s built environment.
This work is a timely counterpoint to contemporary global culture’s paranoia concerning the spread of Islam. With a subtle, pared-back aesthetic, these photographs are straightforward and without ostentation. They testify to the simple ways in which spiritual life can develop within ordinary, everyday settings.
(Source: https://www.noelbowler.com/work/making-space)
About the Artist
Noel Bowler is a Photographer and Educator. Born in Ireland (b.1978). He holds an MFA in photography from University of Ulster, Belfast and a BA (Hons) degree in Documentary Photography from the University of Wales, Newport. His work has been exhibited worldwide including New York Photofestivel and Les Recontres d’Arles, with recent solo exhibitions in Gallery of Photography, Ireland and Impressions Gallery, England. Bowler has nominated for the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize in 2011 and for the Prix Pichtet Photography Prize in both 2012 and 2015. His most recent body of work Union will be published by the Kehrer Verlag in 2015. He is currently a Lecturer in Photography at University Campus Suffolk.
noelbowler.com
(Source: https://newirishworks.com/project/noel-bowler/)
About the Publisher
Gallery of Photography have featured contemporary photography. They were established in 1978 by John Osman. In 1996 they moved to a purpose-designed new gallery.
galleryofphotography.ie
