At Wit’s End, Cartoonists of The New Yorker
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 SOLD OUT
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
Anthology
by Alen MacWeeney
You can pre-order the book at Cork University Press.
Price: $65.00
Discover the definitive collection of one of the world's most compelling photographers.
Alen MacWeeney: Anthology is the first comprehensive retrospective, spanning seventy years of the acclaimed Irish photographer's extraordinary career. From his beginnings as a teenage press photographer in Dublin, to his apprenticeship with the legendary Richard Avedon in New York and Paris, MacWeeney swiftly abandoned the studio to develop a signature style of composed, yet gritty, street photography.
This volume showcases the vast and deeply human scope of his work, distinguished by a painterly eye that reveals the profound character of its subjects. At the heart of the collection is MacWeeney's celebrated and compassionate documentation of the Irish Travellers, a crucial cultural record, capturing a vanishing way of life. The book features iconic works, including his poignant photographs of the conflict in Northern Ireland, intimate portrayals of family members of the Bloomsbury Group, and the melancholy street portraits of his 1970s' New York Subway series.
MacWeeney's masterful control of light and composition — from rich colours to a vast range of gorgeous greys — lends a thoughtful, quiet repose to his images, giving the sense that the subject has only just left the room.
With over 300 pages of stunning reproductions, this essential book solidifies MacWeeney’s place among the masters of modern photography. His photographs are held in the permanent collections of major institutions worldwide, including MoMA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Art Institute of Chicago. His archive was acquired by University College Cork Library in 2019. For collectors, photography enthusiasts, and lovers of Irish history, Anthology is a timeless and powerful testament to a life spent behind the lens.
Release: 2026-10-30
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 336