Landscape Rising (Part 4/4)
Mary Furlong
The work of photographer Mary Furlong will wrap up our short “Landscape Rising” series that provided short introductions to each of the artists taking part in the exhibition.
Mary Furlong, Bread, from The Red Ribbon project, archival pigment print on Hahnemühle FineArt Pearl, 37 x 37 cm framed
Mary Furlong was the portrait photographer for the Alternative Miss Ireland from 1996 to its final show in 2012. In 2004 some of these portraits were published in the book “Dancing at the Crossroads: Glamour Rooted in Despair”. Furlong worked as a researcher and assistant to the Director in the Gallery of Photography and was Perry Ogden’s photo assistant and studio manager for ten years and the co-ordinator and tutor of the Ballymun Photography Club, a Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane educational outreach programme. Born in Dublin she began working in fashion design later returning to college to study photography. She is also an experienced tutor having taught photography in Griffith College, Ringsend CDVEC and St. Peters College, Killester. She also works as a community artist. Shooting mainly in medium format colour film, Furlong specialises in portraiture, still life and landscapes. Her commissioned work has appeared in AnOther magazine, The Telegraph and The Financial Times.
Mary Furlong,Teeth, from The Red Ribbon project, archival pigment print on Hahnemühle FineArt Pearl, 37 x 37 cm framed
Mary Furlong, Salt, from The Red Ribbon project, archival pigment print on Hahnemühle FineArt Pearl, 37 x 37 cm framed
Mary’s work shown as part of “Landscape Rising”, The Red Ribbon, 2015-16, is a series of six images from a larger project started last year based around Irish Traveller traditional beliefs and superstitions. The images combine portraiture, landscapes and still life and illustrate a prevailing culture of traditional beliefs and superstitions in Ireland. Shot on medium format film, the images are composed in camera and printed full frame.
Examples of the associated superstitions for the image above (Salt) are the following:
Salt is lucky outside the door, it keeps evil away, it's holy.
Throw salt, if you move into a new home it’s supposed to be lucky to throw salt in all four corners to keep fairies or evil spirits away.
If you spill salt make an X, the sign of the cross in it.
Mary Furlong, Hair, from The Red Ribbon project, archival pigment print on Hahnemühle FineArt Pearl, 37 x 37 cm framed
Describing her own work Mary Furlong stated:
“I am a visual artist specializing in photography. I prefer to photograph things, people and places as I find them but occasionally if I can’t find what I’m looking for, I set things up.
I work in both film and digital, I use mobile phones, point & shoot and medium format cameras. I compose in camera and my images are printed full frame, what you see is what I saw. I prefer film photography, I like having something tangible, a roll of film, a set of negatives and I like the discipline of film, of having to align all of the elements at once, bringing everything - seen and unseen - together the moment you press the shutter. I have worked with many different mediums but the camera is the most natural tool for me to use, the most instinctive, the most developed, an extension of, a part of, me.
I am interested in stories, personal living histories and local places and their hidden histories, the commonplace and the generally overlooked. I am inspired by what I find around me, everyday objects and situations, chance remarks, snippets and stories. I look for what I think is extraordinary in the everyday. I also like to work collaboratively within communities.”
To see Furlong’s photographs and their accompanying beliefs and superstitions, come in to Solomon Fine Art and see the show before it closes this Saturday, 23rd July 2016.












