My name is Isibéal O’Connell and I am a Dublin based photographer. Currently, my photo practice is predominantly documentary style. Focusing on realism, rawness, and vulnerability, my photographs are attempting to be an unvarnished record of actual lives. I have enjoyed the experience of photographing dynamic environments such as on film sets and at Fashion Week events. I find myself drawn to the behind the scenes elements of these events attempting to capture the often unseen work.
In the studio I enjoy creating theatrical black and white studio portraits. I am inspired by fashion photographers from the early-mid twentieth century such as Horst P. Host and George Hoyningen-Huene.
Keeping up Appearances
'Keeping up Appearances' is a documentary-style project exploring the everyday beauty rituals and routines that shape how young women present themselves. Based in private spaces such as bedrooms and bathrooms, the project documents the at home transformations done through hair styling, fake tanning, painting nails, shaving, and experimenting with makeup.
These repetitive performances often sit between self-expression, social expectation, and self care. Focusing on realism, rawness, and vulnerability, the project displays messiness, boredom, and comfort rather than idealised perfection. While the images may be soft or pretty, they are not sanitised. The project engages with feminist themes surrounding societal pressures, highlighting the unseen effort behind appearances and questioning where empowerment, self care, and conformity overlap
Sa Solas
Sa Solas is the Irish phrase for “in the light.” Each photograph is a close-up portrait of a woman who is emerging from darkness, or the shadows, into the light. These collaborations with my subjects are the result of a lot of experimentation with different lighting set-ups and poses.
My lighting technique in the studio involved the use of spotlights in order to create an image in the style of early to mid-twentieth century headshots or film stills. The subjects are posed in a theatrical way, with an emphasis on expressive emotion. The images are lit to capture the contrasting textures of hair, material and jewellery against the black background. My use of light, darkness and shadow aims for a dramatic chiaroscuro effect.
