Kevin Collins

Born and reared in Dublin, Kevin trained as a forester at University College Dublin, graduating with a Masters degree in 1994. He has since worked extensively in both the environmental NGO and State sector in Ireland, in the areas of urban forestry, forest recreation, and native woodlands. Kevin has also acted as chairperson of Sculpture in Woodland, a group of artists and foresters promoting the use of wood as an artistic medium, centred on the development of a sculpture collection in Devil's Glen Forest, Co. Wicklow.

Kevin has been a keen self-taught photographer for over a decade, and has provided images – both technical and artistic – for a wide range of forestry-related publications. He has also travelled widely, collecting images from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. His particular interest lies in 'found' objects – both natural and made – captured using ambient light.

Kevin’s involvement in the countryside allows him to experience wild places largely out-of-sight from others. These places form the basis of his contribution to the Green Sod Land Trust photographic exhibition, Galway, 2008.


Kevincollins . photos @ gmail . com
085-1176598

 

Photographer's vision

In approaching this collection, I explore out-of-sight wild places. Places behind mossy rocks, under dripping canopies, beside trickling streams, places hidden from us, and yet busy 'being' in their own right. As a kid I was always fascinated by such places, albeit in the urban landscape. Empty car parks, derelict buildings, overgrown laneways – what goes on there, when people aren't around?

Through my involvement in the countryside, I often come across such places, richer and more varied than their urban cousins, and lying just outside the triangulation of human activities, associations and sightlines. These places exist, regardless of whether or not we experience them. They are no Schrödinger's cat: they don't need our observation to validate them. They already are.  

In photographing these places, I step lightly, using natural light, long exposures and a sturdy tripod to allow the scene to 'paint' itself onto the film surface, in its own time.

I hope my pictures offer glimpses of these 'other places', beyond our own everyday world and yet still within easy reach. Perhaps nature, with all its beauty and complexity, is closer than we think.
Click on each image to see a larger version.
ashandferns

 

 

 

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