Photographer Sheena Jolley tells us about her new book Of Land and Sea which combines her beautiful photography with the poetry of the late DJ O’Sullivan.
Tell us about yourself.
I live in Schull but I was born in Wicklow and have always been fascinated by the natural world. I returned to college to study photography full time in 2000 and then pursued my two passions.
Tell us about the book
The idea for this book was suggested by the late DJ O’Sullivan’s son Donal who is also a lighthouse keeper. DJ was also a lighthouse keeper and wrote a daily column called Land and Water for the Irish Press for 45 years. DJ published two volumes of poems (Lighthouse Lyrics and From Fastnet to Inishtrahull). DJ died in 1993. Donal asked if I would be interested in republishing his father’s poems with my wildlife images. I was spending time on Inishtrahull photographing the wildlife there at the same time that Donal was doing maintenance work on the lighthouse. It seemed that DJ’s poetry perfectly complements my work.
Where were the photographs taken?
Donal’s suggestion to combine my images with his father’s work encouraged me to travel to island locations and lighthouse all around Ireland to photograph a wide variety of wildlife and settings suggested by O’Sullivan’s poetry. Taking daily trips to islands was never going to work. To get the best shots I had to be there in the early hours of morning and evening. This often meant camping on my own in remote places and on islands but I never felt alone. It gave me wonderful opportunities to take time to observe the beauty of nature and witness the fascinating behaviour of animals and birds and capture these as frozen moments in photographs.
I believe the combination of photographs, information and the words of DJ’s poems bring to life the geography, beauty and natural heritage of Ireland. I hope it will inform, transfix, and inspire the reader in ways the usual natural history publication cannot.
• Sheena’s book is available in all good bookshops and online from www.menmabooks.eu/
You can contact the author at www.donoughmore.ie
