Three Irish photographers share the stories behind their most significant works, highlighting the enduring power of personal connection in image-making. Alen MacWeeney’s 1965 photo of a white horse in Donegal, Rich Gilligan’s 2000 skateboarding shot in Kerry, and Agata Stoinska’s 2024 self-portrait each reveal how intimate moments shape artistic legacy.
Irish photographers Alen MacWeeney, Rich Gilligan, and Agata Stoinska have each identified pivotal images from their careers, offering insight into how personal narratives and technical choices intersect in photography. Their stories, drawn from a 2026 Irish Times article, underscore the medium’s ability to capture cultural memory and individual transformation.
The Timeless Lens of Alen MacWeeney
Alen MacWeeney’s 1965 photograph of a white horse in Donegal, titled White Horse, Donegal, emerged from a serendipitous collaboration. After moving to New York in 1964, MacWeeney returned to Ireland with friends to create a book about W.B. Yeats’s poetic influences. During the trip, he captured the horse—a symbol of folklore—on a Rolleiflex camera. The image, published in Harper’s Bazaar in September 1965, became a defining work of his career.
The photograph’s significance lies in its blend of spontaneity and symbolism.
Rich Gilligan’s Skateboarding Legacy
Rich Gilligan’s 2000 photograph of friend Bruce Kelliher skateboarding in Kenmare, Co. Kerry, marked a career milestone. The image, titled Bruce Kelliher, Kenmare, Co Kerry, was his first published work, appearing as a double-page spread in SLAP magazine in April 2001. Gilligan, who grew up in a pre-internet era, described the publication as a life-changing experience,
linking his work to global skate culture. Seeing my work alongside photographers and skaters I’d idolised for years was a life-changing experience, he said.
The photograph’s impact extended beyond aesthetics. The image remains a testament to the role of community and chance in shaping artistic careers.
Agata Stoinska’s Reflective Self-Portrait
Agata Stoinska’s The Seed, from her 2024 series Echoes of a Dream, is a self-portrait taken during a period of transition. The image, the only one in the series shot on film, captures a moment when I was saying goodbye to a place that shaped more than 15 years of my life,
Stoinska explained. She developed the negative a year later, losing some memory of the exact scene. It would be a year before I developed the negative, so I didn’t quite remember what I had captured, she said.
The photograph’s technical and emotional duality—shot on film but processed later—highlights Stoinska’s exploration of memory. Unlike the digital works in the series, The Seed retains a tactile quality, emphasizing the tension between immediacy and reflection.
The Broader Impact of Personal Photography
The photographers’ stories reveal how personal connections and technical choices shape artistic legacy. MacWeeney’s work bridges literature and landscape, Gilligan’s image merges subculture with global media, and Stoinska’s piece explores memory through materiality. Each reflects the medium’s capacity to document both individual and collective narratives.
These accounts also highlight the evolving role of photography in the digital age. While AI threatens to eclipse traditional methods, the photographers’ emphasis on human experience—whether through a 1960s Rolleiflex or a 2024 film shoot—underscores the enduring value of analog processes. As MacWeeney noted, these photographs show how much the lens still matters, a sentiment echoed in the tactile, human-driven nature of their work.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Photographic Storytelling
As technology advances, the photographers’ emphasis on personal storytelling offers a counterpoint to AI-generated content. Their works—rooted in lived experience and technical craftsmanship—challenge the notion that image-making is becoming impersonal. For MacWeeney, Gilligan, and Stoinska, the camera remains a tool for preserving human connection, even as the medium itself transforms.
As Gilligan put it, his legacy lives on.
