Major photography exhibit takes off

A major new exhibition by renowned Irish photographer Kevin Abosch is to be held at Dublin airport over the next 12 months.

The Faces of Ireland exhibition includes images of people from across the island of Ireland which have been taken over a two-year period by the photographer.

Mr Abosch, is an internationally renowned photographer and visual artist whose work has appeared on more than 500 magazine covers, including Vogue. Among the famous faces he has captured are Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, and Scarlett Johansson.

He has photographed 250 people for the Dublin airport exhibition including well-known faces such as President Mary McAleese, golfer Rory McIlroy, actor Gabriel Byrne and singer Sinéad O'Connor.

"These 250 different faces represent the citizenry of the island of Ireland," according to Mr Abosch. "Some of the faces you'll recognise immediately, some of them might appear a little bit familiar, while others you won't know at all."

Each photograph is 44 inches square and they will be exhibited without captions. "The images show everyone as equals," said Mr Abosch. "It's not about the heroes or the villains among us; it's about humans."

None of the photographs in the exhibition have been shown in public before.

The 250 subjects were all photographed against a black background and lit in the same formal manner. "Everybody was photographed the same way. Whether you're the Taoiseach or an eight year-old girl, you get the same treatment. It's a very democratic process."

The photographer approached Dublin airport to discuss exhibiting the images because he wanted to show the work in a large public space and to the widest audience.

The Faces of Ireland exhibition is running throughout the airside areas of Terminal 2 until October 2012. A soft copy exhibition catalogue and a hard cover coffee table book of the work will also be available with proceeds going to DAA's Charity of the Year, which for 2011 is 3Ts Turning the Tide of Suicide.