Mark Philips
'Roam Free'
SCR Kilmainham, Islandbridge, Dublin 8
2019
Dublin City Council
For this project I have incorporated my love of photography with Dublin Canvas. It is my intention that the box would be an invite (or a subtle advert) to those who have not yet been to the Phoenix Park and to those who do not realise or have forgotten that within the gates of this city park and among all of the nature it has to offer stands resplendent fallow deer. Phoenix Park with these beautiful deer, that roam free, amaze me every time I see them wandering around the park, left almost completely undisturbed. It is wonderful to see visitors engage with these creatures. In what is often a congested and chaotic city the fact that an oasis of nature exists in the city centre, untroubled by the increasing modernisation and commercialisation of the capital that surrounds it is fascinating to me and all those that come from far and abroad to visit Dublin. My Dublin Canvas is simply to highlight the beauty of the Phoenix Park deer and show how they are a part of the city. The deer could be considered iconic but often get overshadowed by other Dublin iconography and I wish to show people how to embrace them by simply coming along, passing through the gates of the park
I am a recent graduate of Griffith College Dublin where I studied Photographic Media. I completed my BA at night whilst working full time. I hope to pursue further studies in both photographic media and visual studies/cultures this coming September. I have always used photography as a means to tell stories and express my interests in either one image or a series. I am from Dublin so most of my work incorporates the soul, people and landscape of this wonderful and quirky city.