1998 - Martine Franck’s ‘Tory Island’ Exhibition & Book are launched at Gallery of Photography

Gallery of Photography hosted the first showing of Tory Island, an exhibition of photographs by the well known photographer Martine Franck of Magnum Photo Agency.

Martine Franck first went to Tory in 1993 with the painter Derek Hill, to document life on this wind-swept island. The evocative images in this exhibition are a culmination of the time she has spent there over the years. Tory is a Gaelic-speaking island, with a tradition of an elected ‘king’ who is the island’s chief spokesman and arbiter. The population, long declining, appears to have stabilised at around 130 inhabitants. The islanders derive their livelihood, with difficulty, from fishing and agriculture and now to a growing extent from tourism. Bleak and treeless the island may be, but in its bleakness, it can be spectacularly beautiful. As if reflecting that beauty, under the inspiration of Derek Hill, a school of painting has arisen on Tory in recent decades, whose largely ‘primitive’ works have found international recognition.

Martine Franck’s superb photography offers an intimate glimpse of the island and its people. Who, looking at the vibrant faces of its children, could have doubts for the island’s future?

The accompanying book ‘Tory Island Images’, published by Wolfhound Press, was launched at the exhibition.