SELF MADE

The Belfast School of Art has been profiled by the British Journal of Photography as one of the most significant photography schools in Europe. The MFA programme strives to develop unique photographic voices that sit firmly at the cutting-edge of a contemporary international context, while also mining the specifics of Northern Ireland's unique geographical and cultural position. Graduates work internationally between the book, galleries, web, and magazines, continually challenging photography's place within contemporary society.

The teaching team is comprised of contemporary practising photographers, writers, and thinkers who exhibit and publish internationally. The team includes Professor Paul Seawright, Ailbhe Greaney, Dr. KayLynn Deveney, Ken Grant, and Clare Gallagher, as well as two members of the prestigious Magnum agency, the late Martin Parr and Professor Donovan Wylie. The programme also features guest lecturers including Hannah Starkey, Guy Martin, and Donald Weber.

Throughout the programme, students develop an awareness of photography as it exists in a culture of evolving technologies. They are challenged to rethink their practice both visually, theoretically, and contextually. Close links with photographic galleries and photography festivals help students to build networks and professional practice. The programme is complemented by a series of masterclasses and advanced skill workshops, an annual field trip to Paris, and regular site visits to cultural institutions across Ireland, the UK, and Europe.

SELF MADE is a photographic project documenting the baby boomer generation as they move into retirement, captured from the inside by one of their own. The work offers a glimpse into the lives of a cohort raised to believe that financial success would enable happiness — people shown relaxing in their homes, surrounded by what they consider to be their treasure, or in pursuit of their hobbies. The project has been described as depicting people who have everything but nothing; and nothing but everything.

The title itself is a deliberate double entendre. It might first suggest images of external material success. But on closer inspection, the work reveals people who have made themselves, in a deeper sense, over a lifetime of experience and development. The images are intended to leave the viewer slightly perplexed but intrigued by their ambiguity: are these ageing baby boomers happy or sad? Lonely or connected? Fulfilled or bitter? Do they have everything or nothing?

The work also poses a generational question. Given the negative feelings from some younger generations who blame the baby boomers for issues such as global warming: have we simply taken advantage of the prevailing conditions, or have we knowingly impoverished the lives of future generations?

The practice blurs the boundaries between the art, documentary, and family genres, often with a degree of humour, à la Martin Parr. The images stay as close to the natural settings of the subjects as possible — a fly-on-the-wall approach where most of the work avoids the direct gaze, placing the subject in their own environment. The MFA consisted of a written dissertation and this portfolio of work, which was exhibited at the BX Gallery in Belfast at graduation.