Carsten takes a new look at Ireland’s Coast

RENOWNED Clare photographer Carsten Krieger has recently released his latest book of photographs.
Entitled Ireland’s Coast, it is a celebration of Ireland’s coast with 250 beautiful photographs by the Kilbaha-based photographer.
Wherever you are in Ireland, you are never far from the sea. The country’s 3,000km coastline is a place of natural beauty and vibrant history – beaches, fishing villages and harbours, mudflats and salt marshes, lighthouses and promenades. These are the images that Carsten wanted to capture in this book.
“I always wanted to make a book on the coast. It’s an obvious theme if you live on an island. After I had finished my first book with the O’Brien Press (Ireland – Glorious Landscapes), we did some brainstorming what to do next and Ireland’s coast appealed most to all.
“Where it became difficult was the approach: I had another landscape book in mind. O’Brien wanted a more general approach. In the end, the brief was very simple: include anything related to the coast; landscape, heritage, wildlife and people. This easily tripled my workload but, in the end, it was worth it. So beside the typical landscape images, there is wildlife (dolphins, a fin whale off Kerry, crabs, anemones and sea urchins). I followed the building of the Sally O’Keeffe in Querrin, visited a sail maker in Cork, a fishmonger in Howth, photographed the surfing championships in Bundoran among other, for me, rather unusual things,” Carsten said.
It was also important to Carsten to include field studio images, as he is part of an international biodiversity project called Meet Your Neighbours.
“The idea of the project is to raise awareness for common wildlife and in order to do that, plants and animals are photographed in the field in a makeshift studio in front of a white background. I have been photographing all kinds of small coastal animals (crabs, anemones and snails) and wildflowers for the project and it’s good to see them in the book,” he added.
The beauty of the landscape, the power of the sea and the many changing faces of both have captured his imagination in this publication.
“There is always something new to discover. What also fascinates me is the tight connection between landscape and history. Skellig Michael is one of the places where this becomes very clear: The beehive huts are very much part of the island and its spirit. The coastal wildlife also never fails to amaze me, especially the microcosmos of rock pools. And, of course, the whales and dolphins. I met with a fin whale off the Kerry coast and an encounter like this puts things in perspective,” he continued.
There are several Clare images in the book, which include Killimer, many from around the Loop Peninsula, including the Shannon dolphins, the Cliffs of Moher and images off the Burren Coast featuring Black Head, Fanore and Aughinish.
“Choosing the Clare images for the book was a nightmare. Over 10 years living there, I had accumulated quite a number of images, choosing the best ones was impossible and I changed around images until the very end,” Carsten concluded.
Ireland’s Coast is a visual celebration of the coastal landscape, wildlife and people, interspersed with stories and anecdotes gathered during two years travelling from the vibrant sea baths of the east coast to lonely offshore islands in the west, from the white beaches of the north to the hidden coves in the south.
Carsten has published five books on Ireland’s landscape and wildlife, including Ireland – Glorious Landscapes.