Paul Gaffney

Paul Gaffney is an Irish artist whose research aims to determine and develop a meditative approach to landscape photography. Drawing on Arnold Berleant’s theory of a ‘participatory approach’ to landscape, in which the artist, environment and viewer are considered to be in continuous dialogue with each other, Gaffney’s work explores the potential for image making to both enable and disrupt a sense of connection with one’s surroundings.

Gaffney holds an MFA in Photography from the University of Ulster in Belfast. He has been a recipient of the Arts Council’s Visual Arts Bursary (2017) and Next Generation Bursary Award (2016), and his work has been nominated for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize and the Prix Pictet.

His acclaimed photobook, We Make the Path by Walking, focused on the idea of long distance walking as a form of meditation. His second publication Stray was photographed by night in a dense Irish forest during an artist residency in 2014, and his latest project Perigee was made in the Ardennes in Luxembourg under the light of the full moon.

His books have been nominated for the Photobook Award at the International Photobook Festival Kassel (2013 & 2016), shortlisted for the European Publishers Award for Photography, and selected for several ‘Best Photobooks of The Year’ lists.

Solo exhibitions include Centre National de l’Audiovisuel (Luxembourg), Flowers Gallery (London), Ffotogallery (Cardiff), Gallery of Photography (Dublin), Belfast Exposed, and PhotoIreland Festival 2013 (Dublin) in addition to group shows in the United States, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Italy, France and China. Gaffney is represented by Oliver Sears Gallery (Dublin).

image caption: Perigee_#7