From: "Saved by Windows Internet Explorer 7" Subject: =?Windows-1252?Q?The_Munster_Express_Online_=BB_Blog_Archive_=BB_Review:_?= =?Windows-1252?Q?Ghosts_Of_The_Faithful_Departed?= Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:20:32 -0000 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C86C2A.C4978630" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.0.6000.16545 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C86C2A.C4978630 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.munster-express.ie/front-page-news/general-stories/review-ghosts-of-the-faithful-departed/ =EF=BB=BF
The David Creedon photographic exhibition, Ghosts Of = The=20 Faithful Departed, was a well-kept post-Christmas secret and what a = treat these=20 thirty or less colour photographs are crammed full of interest and = nostalgia and=20 in his own way Creedon has captured the ghosts in derelict and abandoned = houses.=20 Almost each print has a religious icon or image from familiar Sacred = Heart,=20 Infant Of Prague, Lourdes Madonna and children at her feet. = There=E2=80=99s an American=20 image Our Lady Of Mount Carmel, pray for us.
Every image is a story and it is easy to understand the = vestiges=20 of human habitation in these photos of damp decaying sadness. In BLUE = BEDROOM, a=20 manky pink mattress makes me shiver. In PRAM an old-fashioned bassinette = is=20 rusty and dirty beside an abandoned Sacred Heart image in a frame. = Family Rosary=20 Pledges seem as distant as an Irish Press Calendar for 1964 or a = rustling Ford=20 Consul with the surface erupting like boils and pimples. A stained = whiskey=20 bottle, a stained cup stand beside a holy icon and a headless Infant Of = Prague=20 evoke memories of people putting such icons in windows for a fine = wedding day.=20 The people are gone from these photos, gone from these crumbling rooms, = gone=20 like their hopes Ask For Afton, Singer sewing machines like treasures in = black=20 and gold; clocks stopped in time, Irish Sweepstakes tickets, teapots, = cups and=20 saucers. An abandoned windup gramaphone dress on the back of a door = never worn,=20 with its tags intact - You can relax in a dress by Arnel.
Emigration and America are captured in rotting flags, = distressed=20 trunks and suitcases - Not Wanted On Voyage - and not wanted now either. = Who=20 were the people who lived in these rooms? The Last Will And Testament of = David=20 Walsh, 1942, prepared by James Lucey, Attorney At Law San Francisco; or = the=20 American airmail letter from New Jersey 1974 to an O=E2=80=99Sullivan in = Bantry.
It is the craft and skill of the photographer that keeps = the=20 ever-present sense of loss and loneliness at bay.
On Thursday, 7h February, the Old Market Film Club, starts its Spring = Season.