Snap Judgments explores how the new generation of photographic artists are addressing our changing relationship to the photographic image, looking in particular at questions of self-image, self-presentation and social judgment.

Eva O’Leary’s award-winning series Spitting Image shows portraits of American girls photographed through a two-way mirror as they respond to their own reflection. It reveals the girls’ inherent discomfort at being faced with their own image, and the different levels of confidence with which they present themselves to camera.

Part performer, part artist, part provocateur, part spectator, Haley Morris-Cafiero explores the social gaze in her series, Wait Watchers. Putting herself in the frame, Morris-Cafiero’s work implicates the viewer in a dynamic interplay of looking and judging.

Whereas O’Leary and Morris-Cafiero’s works explore moments of anxiety or tension, Daragh Soden‘s award-winning series Young Dubliners succeeds in revealing a much more relaxed and self-accepting outlook. It features young Dubliners as they present themselves in their own environments. Soden celebrates the unique character of the city’s young people with empowering portraits that acknowledge his subject’s vulnerability without denying their quiet confidence.

Artists Talk: Haley Morris-Cafiero and Daragh Soden will talk about their work at a reception to mark the official launch of the exhibition, Thursday May 2nd at 6pm.

Curators Talks: Join us every Wednesday and Friday lunchtime for an introduction to the work on display and a guided tour by one of the Gallery of Photography curators.

Haley Morris-Cafiero holds a BA in Photography from North Florida and a MFA in Art from the University of Arizona. She is Lecturer in Photography and Global Engagement Lead at the Belfast School of Art since 2018. Her work has been shown to critical acclaim internationally and new work will be the focus of solo exhibitions at Belfast Exposed Gallery later this year and at the Centre de la Photographie in Geneva in 2020.

Wait Watchers work was published as The Watchers by the Magenta Foundation in 2015. Signed copies are available for purchase in the Gallery Bookshop.
www.haleymorriscafiero.com

Eva O’Leary Born in Ireland, now based in New York, O’Leary is a recent winner of the Outset Unseen Exhibition Fund, resulting in an exhibition at Foam (Amsterdam) this year. She holds a MFA from Yale and a BFA from California College of the Arts. She was the recipient of the Hyères Festival Grand Prix in 2018, The Vontobel Prize in 2017, and was named a Foam Talent in 2014. Her work has featured in numerous international publications and exhibitions including the CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, LTD Los Angeles, Benaki Museum, Athens, Aperture Foundation, New York and Butler Gallery, Kilkenny.

Eva O’Leary’s work is presented in the Gallery of Photography Ireland with the kind collaboration of the Butler Gallery.
www.evaoleary.com

Daragh Soden is a Dublin-born artist and photographer, now based in London. He holds a BA in Documentary Photography from University of South Wales, and received the British Journal of Photography Breakthrough Award in 2016.  In 2017, he was awarded the Grand Prix du Jury at the prestigious Hyères Fashion and Photography Festival. In 2018, he exhibited his new work, Toulon, at the Villa Noailles in Hyères and then in Toulon, France. Soden continues to divide his time between personal fine art projects and fashion photography, each supporting the other.
www.daraghsoden.com