My Irish Love

A photographer, like a painter or an illustrator, creates an image intending to evoke a response in the person who views it. The degree of the response will vary of course, from the ‘huh, that’s interesting’ to the ones when your head cocks to the side and really makes you think. They might change your perception about a subject or inspire you to go and do something you wouldn’t normally do. Recently I’ve been inspired by an Irish photographer, Hugh O’Malley, whose work has a dual effect of calming me and bringing out my cheeky side (speaking of cheeky, I caught my 3-year old nephew scolding his pants calling them ‘cheeky’ a few days ago. Now the fascinating thing wasn’t him calling his pants cheeky – ok so it wasn’t the only fascinating thing – but more of where he learnt the word ‘cheeky’ from! I digress...) 

These pictures are from a test shot Hugh did portraying a woman who’s strong yet soft. There’s a vulnerability to her and the fact that she’s in her underwear brings this out even more. But in her eyes, especially in the picture with the fur stole where she’s looking directly at the camera, lets you know you can’t mess with this one. The feel of the pictures brings to mind a song by Jordin Sparks, a line from it reading “just ‘cause I think of you in bed, don’t let it go to your head”. Anyone else want to prance around London in just fur and HUGE hair after seeing these pictures?