Alen MacWeeney, (Irish, b. 1939), Little Tinker Child • Ireland, 1965-1966; Printed 1979. Gelatin silver print mounted on heavy paper stock, 19 7/8 x 15 7/8 in. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Oxnard Jr., © Alen MacWeeney 1965-1966

SAVANNAH, GA.- The Telfair Museum of Art presents Images of Ireland: Photographs by Alen MacWeeney, on view through May 20, 2007. Dublin-born photographer Alen MacWeeney (b. 1939) began working as a press photographer for the Irish Times at the age of 16. In 1961 he went to New York to work as an assistant to Richard Avedon and study with the renowned graphic designer Alexey Brodovitch. Since then, he has worked in many photographic genres, including portrait, travel, fashion, and news photography, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Esquire, GQ, Travel+Leisure, Fortune and numerous other periodicals and books. However, MacWeeney’s depictions of his native Ireland number among his most noteworthy images. This exhibition presents a portfolio of twelve Irish photographs by the artist. Published in 1979, the works range in date from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s, and depict timeless scenes of gritty urban life in Dublin alongside harmonious country landscapes. Irish people, their children, their homes, and their pets are all captured by MacWeeney’s psychologically penetrative lens. In the statement accompanying this portfolio, the artist declares: “An image has no meaning for me unless it has some qualities beneath the surface… There must be something more going on than one can see.” (courtesy www.Artdaily.org)