Artist Statement

In her treatise, “ THE BANALITY OF EVIL ’’, Hannah Arendt asserts that evil cannot exist without the belief that some people are superfluous. That the everyday person is unique and indispensable beyond any words is the thesis underlying these portraits.

Be it painting, drawing, photography, or film-making; art is how I understand the world. I was born confused, I remain confused and will probably die confused because I can only understand life as if reading in braille. Art is the braille by which I experience and feel existence. And, as in my art, I fumble and make mistakes and hope that , in the end, to glean some understanding from the experience. Learning somewhat like a child, I’ll paint, draw, photograph, or film a person and in some way come to understand them in the tiny moment of time that we share company.

The portraits @ O’Shaughnessy’s is the result of those efforts to understand some of the people who visited the pub intriguing or fascinating me  for any number of reasons. I accepted everyone without reservation and photographed them as they presented themselves. Not having received formal education in photography, I relied on bits learned from photographer friends and in the final decisions, my intuition and what felt right.

The portraits were taken during a time of rampant unemployment in which the bleakness of life was treated with alcohol. In the Ireland of the time, I recognized my own rough and tumble, hand-me-down culture which the Fichter siblings experienced during the 50’s in the New York City area.

The portraits were exposed in a 2 ¼” format on a twin-lens reflex Rollicord camera that was purchased, used for 30$ while attending USC Film School. Using Kodak Tri-X B & W film that I over-exposed and under-developed and processed in D-76 Developer in the kitchen then, printing the negatives on Agfa-Portriga paper for its warmth in a make-shift home print station or at a rent-by-the-hour printing station.

The portrait of Ian (RFOS2026.06) is the first portrait done in the digital realm using a CanonG5X camera. Ian was photographed during an early exploration of digital photography necessitated by the near elimination of film. I have since switched to digital photography and printing only on the much respected  German branded Hahnemuhle Archival photographic papers with the best Archival Epson inks. All photography took place in O’Shaughnessy’s Pub in the town of Ramelton, County Donegal, a pub I owned and operated for over 20 years before selling.