Irish Travellers, Tinkers No More

Tinker Tales and Traveller Stories

once upon a time in tallaght

Lee Miller, Roland Penrose and their circle at Farley Farm

by Antony Penrose

&

Special Photography

ALEN MACWEENEY

The Home Of The SURREALISTS

IRISH WALLS

— BY Alen MacWeeney and Richard Conniff

BLOOMSBURY REFLECTIONS

— ALEN MACWEENEY and SUE ALLISON

a Bloomsbury house & garden

— QUENTIN BELL & VIRGINIA NICHOLSON

photographs by ALEN MACWEENEY

CHARLESTON

FRANCESSA WOODMAN

Photographs by Alen MacWeeney

Photographs by Alen MacWeeney

Publisher: The Lilliput Press, Dublin.

Printed by: Verona Libri, Italy.
89 B&W photographs printed in tritone.

Purchase

My Dublin 1963, My Dubliners 2020

Photographs by Alen MacWeeney

New York Subways 1977

In 1977, photographer Alen MacWeeney captured a melancholy, painterly series of images of people on New York’s subways. Born in Dublin, MacWeeney began his photographic career in Paris as an assistant to Richard Avedon. After moving to New York, he became captivated by the challenge of making images of people sitting and standing in the bright confines of subway cars. He drew particular inspiration from the works of Reginald Marsh, a social realist painter who was known for his depictions of crowded life in the city. But it was not until he began sorting through work prints that the project took on its unique voice. As the prints lay strewn about, partially on top of one another, MacWeeney found that the combined images told more than a single picture alone. Diptychs became the key to his subway photos. He created pairings that at first glance may appear to be a single image. The subtle groupings generate feelings of surprise, humor, imbalance and menace.

– Alex Q. Arbuckle

New York Subways 1977 by Alen MacWeeney

Limited Edition of 300 can be purchased from the NYPL.

Price: $160.00

In 1977, photographer Alen MacWeeney captured a melancholy, painterly series of images of people on New York’s subways. Born in Dublin, MacWeeney began his photographic career in Paris as an assistant to Richard Avedon. After moving to New York, he became captivated by the challenge of making images of people sitting and standing in the bright confines of subway cars. He drew particular inspiration from the works of Reginald Marsh, a social realist painter who was known for his depictions of crowded life in the city. But it was not until he began sorting through work prints that the project took on its unique voice. As the prints lay strewn about, partially on top of one another, MacWeeney found that the combined images told more than a single picture alone. Diptychs became the key to his subway photos. He created pairings that at first glance may appear to be a single image. The subtle groupings generate feelings of surprise, humor, imbalance and menace.

– Alex Q. Arbuckle

Limited edition printed by GHP Media in West Haven, CT.

Exclusive to the NYPL

Collaborators: Alex Q. Arbuckle (Editor)

Type: Hardcover

Pages: 44

Dims: 18" x 7"

Item Number: 9SUB1977