Aerial photography allows us to see not only things we wouldn’t normally see but also, more importantly, things that we regularly see in a new and wonderful way. Photographing from a couple of thousand feet above Earth takes away the third dimension and flattens all into a collage of pattern, colour and symmetry.
Dennis Horgan's Cork: The View From Above records our biggest county in all its spectacular beauty and variety from the air. Over 256 pages the photographer and aviator captures rugged coastal scenes, urban sprawl, industry, agriculture and sport.
The standout images for me are those that marry the natural environment and man’s intervention, fields of baled straw awaiting collection, a small sailing boat off craggy Toe Head, near Castletownshend, and a small red tractor spreading lime in east Cork. Our architectural heritage is well represented, with ancient castles and stately homes sitting comfortably with brightly coloured cottages in seaside villages. Housing estates manage to look beautiful in their order and symmetry, as do the motorways and bridges that lead to them.
Horgan deserves huge credit for the hours he must have spent in the skies, staying warm while shooting through open doors, all the time trying to keep his camera stable, as he waited for the light to be just right. The book reflects his passion for photography and aviation and his love of the natural Irish landscape, but it is also a fascinating visual record of the changes this landscape has experienced over the past 20 years.
Bryan O’Brien is Deputy Picture Editor
