Study for portrait of William Makepeace Thackeray

Samuel Laurence Cunnane

Although a self-proclaimed 'documentarian', Samuel Laurence Cunnane’s work holds, in essence, a nuance and aesthetic sensitivity rarely found in contemporary photography these days. The artist’s gaze seems to shy away from the desires and confrontations of the real and the immediate, instead wishing to seek clarity in the ‘in between’, the unnoticed. Tinged with melancholy, these photographs take in the fringes, the build-up, the aftermath; never the moment, never the turmoil, the anger or the ecstasy, just its remnants. Cunnane’s work uses analogue photographic techniques, printed by hand by the artist. He remains highly connected to the physicality of the production process, and quite tellingly, speaks of his work in terms of “making” pictures, not “taking” them. His C-type prints are small in size, a side effect of his traditional production methods, but one that resonates with the restrained, intimate nature of the work. Recent solo exhibitions include: OCT Boxes Museum of Art, Shunde, China (2018); Samuel Laurence Cunnane, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, (2016) and Samuel Laurence Cunnane, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, (2015). Recent group exhibitions and projects include: Shaping Ireland: Landscapes in Irish Art, The National Gallery of Ireland, (2019); An Act of Hospitality Can Only be Poetic, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Ireland, (2018); Fortnightly Features Presents, Kerlin Gallery (2014) and the screening Portfolio, Les Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France (2012). Cunnane’s work is represented in museum and public collections worldwide including: The National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; The Arts Council of Ireland; Trinity College Art Collection, Dublin; OCT Boxes Art Museum, Shunde, China and The TIA Collection, Sante Fe, USA.