Photographer shifts our focus from woes to wonder
FOR 20 years, Belgian photographer Dominique Beyens has been infatuated with the landscapes of Ireland.
He has travelled the country to capture his images at all times of the day and night, then selling his prints on the streets of Dublin.
Now, after more than two decades, the 45-year-old's works are to go on display in The Keeling Gallery in Dublin.
"I've been abroad the past few months and when people in other countries ask about Ireland's problem with the banks, I ask them: 'Have you been to Ireland? Do you know how beautiful Ireland is? Have you seen this country? Glendalough? The Aran Islands? Donegal and Kerry?' Every time I go away, I come back and am amazed by the beautiful landscapes you have here in Ireland," Dominique said.
Brought up in Flanders in Belgium, the former painter fell in love with Ireland when he first arrived in 1990.
"I headed for the west coast and immediately felt at home. What caught my eye was how the landscape changed dramatically every 20 miles," he said.
Smitten, Beyens, who also goes under the alias of Dusty McBey, invested in a camera and began taking shots all over Ireland.
"People complain about the rain but part of the magic is the clouds over Ireland, which means the light is always changing. As a painter I couldn't catch that split second, which is why I use a camera," he said.
Beyens captured one such moment at Glendalough in Co Wicklow last summer.
"It was in the evening, just as the park was closing and I spotted a shadow as some children were having a last look at the lake," he said.
In recent years the Drumcondra-based photographer has started photographing Dublin, capturing the Ha'penny Bridge or a working horse on Moore Street.
More pictures can be seen at the New Earth Cafe in Duke Street, Dublin, or on www.eclecticlens.com.
- Ken Sweeney
Irish Independent
