Dublin photographer grabs shots of lockdown life behind ground-floor windows
Music photographer Ruth Medjber, has been a vocal proponent of Irish art and culture over the years under her Ruthless Imagery banner, no more so than in her day job, which has seen her criss-cross Ireland and the world while documenting live music, capturing a wide variety of musicians and their fans in the raw.
When Covid-19 first made an impact on Irish society a little over two months ago, the ramifications of event cancellations and the loss of other work, on her and other photographers/videographers, were immediate, but an impulse to document humanity as it is came to fruition in the unique circumstances in which we find ourselves for Dublin-based Medjber.
Arming herself with her camera and visiting the front windows of friends within her 2km radius, Medjber set about documenting the snapshots of life and living situations in the ground-floor windows of her area of Dublin, compiling her pictures in the Grá Sa Bhaile online project.
Each evening, I've been popping out with my camera at twilight.🌙 I visit neighbours and friends (new and old) and capture their lives at home during this unique moment in time. I'll post the whole series soon, or you can watch them all in a short video. https://t.co/Cttade5FWx pic.twitter.com/SneckxjNBe
— Ruth Medjber 📸⚡ (@ruthlessimagery) April 27, 2020
Visiting a wide range of people, from young families and groups of friends living together, to people living alone amid the current circumstances, Medjber's Grá Sa Bhaile project paints a lively and poignant picture of humanity and connection, at a time when maintaining distance has been key to the ongoing coronavirus effort.
Below is a video compiling her efforts to date, edited by Medjber, and soundtracked by Irish folk outfit Hedge Schools, taking in some of the spectrum of households documented.
Meanwhile, in light of the passing of Irish poetry luminary Eavan Boland, Medjber has posted a very special tribute on her Twitter yesterday, citing Boland's 'This Moment', accompanied by one of the project's more suitably tender snapshots.
I woke up this morning with many messages all reciting the same poem, "This Moment" by Eavan Boland who sadly passed away yesterday. People could see the imagery she painted in her poem, within my photograph. A true honour. A beautiful moment. x pic.twitter.com/4So1OQllt5
— Ruth Medjber 📸⚡ (@ruthlessimagery) April 28, 2020
