The Killarney photographer, Valerie O'Sullivan, has a penchant for capturing subjects on camera which do not overly engage most of her colleagues. In 1998 she produced Sacred Moments, a beautifully photographed documentary on monastic life.
Now she has published Reflections of Contemporary Ireland, containing photographs of and reflections by women such as Garry Hynes, theatre director; Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, poet; Bridget Delaney, from the Travelling community; Bernadette Greevy, Alice Taylor and a host of others, including Dervala Keating who served a prison sentence in Mountjoy.
In between assembling photographs for her books and newspaper work, Valerie is a member of the Kerry Deer Society and Muckross Rowing Club. Some prominent women who were approached for the latest book shied away for their own reasons.
It would be nice to publish their names, but I have been pressed to silence. Her next project will be about contemporary Irish men. Veritas is the publisher.