A Bigger Picture (curated exhibition): Expanding the Field of Northern Irish Photography

Curated by Dr Clare Gallagher, this exhibition of fifteen emerging artists offers a countertext to the omissions in representation engendered by the dominant straight white male voice. This selection of some of the outstanding student and graduate work from the Belfast School of Art presents highly nuanced and challenging perspectives on Northern Ireland.

Amongst Northern Irish art, particularly in relation to the Troubles, photography has been characterised as masculine and been dominated by male voices. This enduring tendency has cast a long shadow over the representation of Northern Ireland, of conflict, and on the participation and voices of women and queer artists in photography.

While Northern Irish photography has established itself internationally as having a distinct and recognisable sensibility, noted for its insistence on subjectivity and sensitivity, it remains widely viewed as a male terrain. This view is reinforced by the gender imbalance in recent homegrown surveys as well as in the current makeup of the national collections.

Artists: Aisling Kane, Maria Przybylska, Joanne Mullin, Richard Gosnold, Emma Campbell, Sarah Tehan, Shannon Ritchie, Gareth Sweeney, Sophie Riddell, Molly Martin, Ryan Allen, Shane O’Neill, Adela Puterkova, Evie Williamson, Charlie Beare