The word fairyland can be understood in many ways. It can be thought

of as a utopia, a mythical other place parallel to our own. It can also signify

a geographical location of particular beauty or spirit. The concept of a

fairyland is common in European mythology- not least in my adopted

homeland, Ireland. Fairyland as a utopia can be considered to reflect the

world that we live in: whatever we choose fairyland to be, it is somehow

mirroring the negatives and positives of our respective realities.

For me, fairyland is experienced first and foremost as a state of mind. The

images for the project are born when I’m not preoccupied with anything:

there are no obligations for me to be, or to do anything than what I want

to be or do just at that moment; it is a place that can be anywhere, but

most often seems to manifest itself in places where I feel connected to my

surroundings. The texts, taken from the major Irish newspaper’s front page

or world news section, reflect the general mood through which I seek the

moments of perfect presence.



The thing that fairyland in this project mirrors is not only the culture I live

in and the general chaos that is the world as seen through news coverage. It also mirrors my relationship to photography. For someone who has a very complex relationship with photography and its uses it is relieving to realize that when I have nothing to do I still carry a camera with me. I’ve used photography to document conflicts, consequences of war, for pr, as holiday pictures: always to communicate a preconceived agenda set for the pictures. Taking these pictures, there hasn’t really been one; the concept developed when I was pondering the meaning of the word fairyland as the summer slowly turned to autumn.

Fairyland is a place, too: the first image of the project, taken on the first

Sunday back in May after a long winter in Finland was taken near a place that historical records show was called Fairy land.