About
Photography’s currency is time, which, I believe, is what drew me to this medium. The immediacy of taking a photograph is just the beginning of a process that can last years.
I make images, this is different to taking photographs, as in my work I’m interested in the mysterious aspects of the image; you are invited to think and look deeper into what you see. An image is at its most powerful when it is simultaneously precise and open enough to give the viewer a sensation of something beyond the image itself..
My work encompasses elements of time, memory and place. In our image-saturated world, it is as if the flickering image is all pervasive; people take less and less time to look at what they are seeing. I look to create images that invoke a curiosity in the viewer, whereby they spend more time with the image, look twice and reflect on the image’s story.
In terms of my methodology, I react to my environment intuitively. On my wanderings, I am frequently surprised by happenstance scenarios, ones that we often pass by – or they us – unnoticed or acknowledged. When I come upon them, they strike me almost as if they have been staged, I document these found slices of life and then move on. All around I see eccentricity in the marks that we make and leave behind, borne out of the need to contain the unsettling open-endedness of our existence.
My process is instinctual, being led by the visual rather than the conceptual. However, over time the impetus presents itself through an intense editing process, which I believe enriches the work and this ongoing reflection creates a stronger, more refined focus within the images.
Biography
Ethna O’Regan (Galway, 1971) received her BA (Hons) in Photography from the Dublin Institute of Technology (now TU) in Ireland.
She had her first solo exhibition in the m3 Kunsthalle, Berlin in 2009 and also showed at the Goethe Institute, Dublin as part of ‘New Irish Works’ in the PhotoIreland Festival, 2013.
She has produced photographic series in Ireland, America, Germany and the Ukraine and has exhibited them internationally.
O’Regan has been nominated for the Berlin Art Prize, 2014, EI Award Braga 2015, Shortlist Athens Photo festival, 2015, 2016, 2020 and Shortlist Eva International, Ireland, 2016.
Her work ranges from the personal to the social and political, identifying moments where these states coincide.
Curriculum Vitae
Ethna Rose O’Regan
Education
2007 - B.A. (Hons) Photography (Hons 2:1 Upper Division), Dublin Institute of
Technology (DIT), Dublin, Ireland.
Solo Shows
2021 After Magdalene, KultourDiele, Rudolstadt, Thuringina, Germany.
2020 Beyond Reach, part of the European Month of Photography, The Irish Embassy, Berlin, Germany.
2019 After Magdalene, part of St. Brigid’s Day - Celebrating the Creativity of Women, The Irish Embassy, Berlin, Germany.
Beyond Reach, Photobook launch, The Gallery of Photography, Dublin, Ireland.
Beyond Reach, Photobook signing, Kehrer Verlag Publishers, Paris Photo, France.
2013 Any moment now, PhotoIreland Festival, The Return Gallery, Goethe Institute, Dublin, Ireland.
2009 After Magdalene, Kunsthalle m3, Berlin, Germany.
Visual Artists Bursary Award, Arts Council of Ireland.
Group Shows
2022 RHA 192nd Annual Summer Show, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland.
2018 Portfolio review award, Athens Photo festival, Athens, Greece.
Portfolio match, Hamburg Photo Triennial, Germany.
2017 Landskrona Portfolio Review Award, Landskrona, Sweden.
Transitions Ep.1: Splintered Planes, Dadapost Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
2016 Eva International (shortlist), Limerick, Ireland.
Athens Photo Festival (shortlist), Athens, Greece.
2015 Waterworks, Berlin, Germany.
Kolt, PhotoIreland Festival, Artbox, Dublin, Ireland.
PhotoIreland Portfolio Review, Dublin, Ireland.
Encontros da Imagem Award (selection), Braga, Portugal.
Athens Photo Festival (shortlist), Athens, Greece.
2014. Berlin Art Prize, Berlin, Germany.
2012. Salon Art Prize, Matt Roberts Arts, London, England.
Self Publish Be Happy, (Honourable mention), London, England.
PhotoIreland Portfolio Review, Dublin, Ireland.
2011 Salon Photo Prize, Matt Roberts Arts, London, England.
2010 Demise en scene, PhotoIreland Festival, Monster Truck, Dublin, Ireland.
2008. RHA Annual Exhibition, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland.
2007 International Graduates Exhibition, Catalyst Arts, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
RDS Student Awards Show, Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland.
Iontas Small Works Exhibition, Sligo Art Gallery, Ireland.
Photoworks 2007, National Photographic Archive, Dublin, Ireland.
2005 Iontas Small Works Exhibition, Sligo Art Gallery, Ireland.
Portrait Ireland, Newtownbarry House, Wexford, Ireland.
2003 Iontas Small Works Exhibitions, Sligo Art Gallery, Ireland.