Donovan Wylie is an Irish photographer from Northern Ireland,[1] based in Belfast. His work chronicles what he calls "the concept of vision as power in the architecture of contemporary conflict" – prison, army watchtowers and outposts, and listening stations – "merging documentary and art photography".[1]
Wylie's work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum and The Photographers' Gallery in London, National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, and Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto; and is held in the collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Tate Modern in London, Yale University Art Gallery, Milwaukee Art Museum, National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Science Museum Group in the UK, Ulster Museum in Belfast, and Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 2010 he was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. He is a member of Magnum Photos.
Wylie has also made films – in 2002 he won a British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) for The Train, a 50 minute documentary written, directed and with cinematography by Wylie.
Professor Donovan Wylie
In 1992 Wylie was invited to become a nominee of the prestigious international Magnum Photos and in 1998 he became a full member. Much of his work, often described as ‘Archaeologies’, has stemmed primarily to date from the political and social landscape of Northern Ireland. His book The Maze was published to international acclaim in 2004, as was British Watchtowers in 2007. In 2001 he won a BAFTA for his film The Train, and he has had solo exhibitions at the Photographers’ Gallery, London, PhotoEspana, Madrid, and the National Museum of Film, Photography and Television, Bradford, England. He has participated in numerous group shows held at, among other venues, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. His work from Afghanistan was published by Steidl in 2012 and in 2013 the Imperial War Museum will mount a major exhibition of his work on contemporary conflict.
NOTE
Donovan was my proessor on the MFA course at Belfast School of Art. I feel priveleged to have been taught by him (and the all university staff). He and the other staff are more than just academics - they are all real photographers. Donovan is also a wonderful person - caring, sincere, motivating, honest & decent.