Dublin photographer Barry Delaney has a new limited edition book out called This England, which looks at the UK ten years on from Brexit. In February 2020, before the Covid pandemic spread worldwide, Delaney took a midweek break in Birmingham. He noticed how different the country had become since Britons had voted to leave the European Union.
Idea
While taking photographs in towns in the West Midlands, the idea of a new project was born, documenting the new direction of Ireland’s nearest neighbour. After lockdown, he made several trips across the Irish Sea. Newcastle became his hub, offering rail links across the North East – to Sunderland, North Shields, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Redcar.
Delaney could see the degree to which Britain had changed. This England (Hi Tone Books, €30) is a limited edition which documents the story through pictures. The book launches on Tuesday, June 23rd, a decade on since Brexit. In his introduction, writer Rónán Hession says that with a Barry Delaney photograph the viewer is part of “a vivid present tense”.
Tribal
“They are never static,” Hession added. “Something is always happening. This has never been more true than in This England, Barry’s best book so far, in my opinion. The jeopardy here is more palpable than ever. Often we are looking at intense moments of celebration. The bursting forth of some innate and narcotic sense of tribal identity.
Show
“From within the tribe, these pictures are joyful. However, it is impossible to forget that Barry is an Irish photographer and that, demonstrably, these are not Irish scenes.”
Delaney’s ‘Brexit’ photo is on public show at the 196th Royal Hibernian Gallery annual summer submission exhibition of artworks in the RHA Gallery in Ely Place in Dublin until August 9.
Copies of This England can be ordered at https://hitonebooks.ie/#/this-england/
