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Shooting the Darkness: The Photographers Who Documented the Troubles
Based on the acclaimed RTÉ documentary, Shooting the Darkness , this landmark book presents the stories of leading photographers – Alan Lewis, Paul Faith, Martin Nangle, Stanley Matchett, Trevor Dickson, Hugh Russell and Crispin Rodwell – whose images captured some of the most important events of the Troubles. They talk, many of them for the first time, about the photographs they took – how they got the shot; what it cost them to take the photograph; and reflect on whether it was worth it.
More broadly, they talk about what it was like to be a photographer during the how the paramilitary groups dealt with them, the ethical dilemmas they faced, and the emotional fallout they experienced. The book includes the stories behind iconic images such as Bishop Edward Daly waving a blood-stained handkerchief on Bloody Sunday, Sean Downes being shot and killed by an RUC plastic bullet in Andersonstown in 1984, and the brutal attack of corporals Derek Wood and David Howes in March 1988.
More broadly, they talk about what it was like to be a photographer during the how the paramilitary groups dealt with them, the ethical dilemmas they faced, and the emotional fallout they experienced. The book includes the stories behind iconic images such as Bishop Edward Daly waving a blood-stained handkerchief on Bloody Sunday, Sean Downes being shot and killed by an RUC plastic bullet in Andersonstown in 1984, and the brutal attack of corporals Derek Wood and David Howes in March 1988.
- GenresPhotographyHistory
144 pages, Hardcover
Published September 26, 2019
28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 14, 2025
This is a sobering book. The conversational style of the photographers showcased as they describe how they got into the world of reportage and photo-journalism, and thence to recording the violent descent into sectarian madness that claimed and maimed so many innocent lives, are poles apart.
As is to be expected, the pictures are often powerful and arresting, with many in black and white and having a starkness that is affecting, and which show moments of human intensity calculatingly perpetrated by, and brutally experienced by different ends of the human condition. It is difficult to contemplate how the photographers carried on documenting the appalling atrocities they were recording as the emotional toll must have been huge.
As is to be expected, the pictures are often powerful and arresting, with many in black and white and having a starkness that is affecting, and which show moments of human intensity calculatingly perpetrated by, and brutally experienced by different ends of the human condition. It is difficult to contemplate how the photographers carried on documenting the appalling atrocities they were recording as the emotional toll must have been huge.
February 6, 2020
An interesting compilation of pictures from the Troubles, some iconic and some unknown.
The 7 photographers featured in the book also provide lengthy interviews about their journeys into photography, as well as stories behind the pictures and of their time as journalists during the Troubles.
All in all, an interesting read, with some poignant photographs.
The 7 photographers featured in the book also provide lengthy interviews about their journeys into photography, as well as stories behind the pictures and of their time as journalists during the Troubles.
All in all, an interesting read, with some poignant photographs.
November 15, 2020
The images are astonishing and the stories that accompany them really hit home. I know I'll be paging through this book for years to come.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews