Dunree Fort - Photographic Project

amcinroy

Guys,

I was just looking for some honest feedback on the first draft of a photographic portfolio I have just completed on Dunree Fort. I am especially interested in how non-photographers view it and whether or not it is coherent to my written introduction.

You can viw the portfolio here
http://www.andymcinroy.com/4port.htm

Here's my introductory statement.

The hill fort at Dunree on the Inishowen Penisula of Donegal once provided a key strategic defence of Loch Swilly from its foundation in 1798 right up until WW2. Now it stands as rusting and deserted relic of our wartime past.

On my many visits to the fort I have always found the place to be eerie and cold. Even on the warmest of summer days, a cold draughts blows through the dark corridors and creaking corregated iron swings in the breeze. Meanwhile, hooded crows watch suspicously from the old telegraph poles. I have carefully treaded through most of these old corridors. Yet there are some dark rooms behind closed doors that still spook me. Those doors remain closed.

Yet, despite the eerie mood and whispers of the past, nature returns to reclaim its place here. Every winter storm sees another window blown in and a little more brickwork crumble. Each year the briars grow higher to conceal what remains and new growth emerges to heal the land.

smashey

I quite like them especially when looked at in conjunction with your opening statement. I take it they are all in black and white to give a felling of eerieness to them. Have you tried asking the guys on the photography forum?

byte

Nice pics. I was at Dunree about 2 years ago. Took a fair few photos. Must put them online.

amcinroy

Thanks guys,

The photography guys have seen 1 or 2 of these. But I really wanted some opinion from non-photographers who were local to the area, especially those who have visited Dunree.

I chose the black and white format for a couple of reasons. The obvious reason is that to instill that mysterious and eerie feeling. But also, because the flaking paint was strong in red, green and blue, I was able to control the contrast very selectively using the individual RGB channels.

For instance, where the flaking paint was green, I could choose just to use the red and blue channels so that the paint went almost pitch black (e.g the shot of the garage door).

Thanks guys
Andy

muffler

They have certainly brought back a few memories from weekend camps we had there years ago. The buildings were in better shape then - well at least they were painted.

It is an eerie and isolated place alright but to do it justice I think you need a few panoramic pics as a starting point and then concentrate on the individual segments.

Mind you we were normally either drunk or hungover on those weekends but you dont wanna know about that

Martyr

hi amcinroy

imho, i prefer colour photos when trying to show a person whos never been to a place, what its like, i've never been to dunree before, and those photos wouldn't persuade me to go there either.

b&w doesn't really do it for me, and i'm non-photographer also

i think coloured would be better for this purpose.

amcinroy

Thanks guys,

I appreciate the comments.

I'll leave it to the donegal tourist board to persuade you to go there. But I hope that I have shown you my interpretation of this eerie place.

If you look through my other galleries you will see many hundreds of colourful Inishowen photographs. This was my attempt at something quite different that won't be everyones cup of tea.

But I find it interesting to get a broad spectrum of opinion when I complete something like this.

Thanks again Muffler and AJ
Andy

Martyr

i was gonna say, if you were portraying it as an eerie place, yeah that works fine i just always thought of abandoned junk/work yards, old factories..something like chernobyl being more suitable for b&w.
i've not been to dunree, but reading about it on your site, i now understand why you would use b&w..

hope you get it sold anyhow! good luck.