Landscape as Witness - Field Trip: Days 23-25

Originally I was meant to have another recorded interview today (Monday) with a man who lives just outside the village of Carron. However, I found out last-minute that the meeting would have to be delayed until tomorrow instead (Tuesday), at 19:00. I am due to conduct another interview in Kilnaboy earlier that day at around 13:00, so I should have no trouble in getting back to Carron on time. As a result of this rescheduling, I found myself with an unprecedented free afternoon following the weekly shop in Kilfenora that morning.

I decided that the best course of action would be to create a map, highlighting the locations of various constructions that I have discovered since arriving in Carron. As I will only be here for another 3 weeks, the remainder of this field trip will need to become increasingly structured to ensure that I am able to photograph as many of these constructions as possible.

I began by locating each construction that was confirmed to have been built during the famine years. Afterwards I began noting the locations of constructions that were not yet confirmed, or that there validity was up for debate. Finally, I also marked the locations of constructions that were not built during the famine, yet have some sort of connection to the event.

In total I documented the locations of 13 constructions that were built across the area of North Clare. Over the next few weeks I will be hoping to photograph each one, prioritising the constructions that are confirmed to have been built as part of the Public Works Scheme during the famine years. I would like the aesthetic of each photograph to be as consistent as possible, so that the focus will be solely on the constructions themselves. Therefore, an ideal situation would be to photograph each construction in the most consistent weather that the Burren has to offer: bleak, overcast, and with a strong probability of rain. However, I am aware that clear, sunny days are not too uncommon around this time of year, so I may need the few extra days to enable me to photograph each construction in as similar conditions as possible.

I have already photographed a number of these constructions before, notably the roads in Poulaphuca and New Quay, as well as the wall in Ballyvaughan. I have also photographed the road that runs behind the Burren College of Art, however I have since been informed that it may not have been built during the famine after all. Despite having documented these constructions already, I have previously expressed my dissatisfaction with the resultant images. The images depicting the road in Poulaphuca were also off in terms of consistency, with the clear, blue skies contrasting with the overcast nature of the other images. All going well, I should have enough time left to ensure that this type of situation does not happen again.