The Custodians exhibition at the Atrium

David Poland’s first photography exhibition, The Custodians, will be officially opened by Farmers Journal journalist and editor of Irish Country Living magazine, Mairead Lavery, today (Tuesday January 14) at 6.15pm in the Atrium in the County Buildings, Mullingar.

Last summer David and his wife Carmel returned to Carmel’s birthplace, Ballinasloe, after living in Australia for 20 years. A Liverpool native, David has worked as a video producer and photographer and was inspired to create this collection after a trip with his wife’s brother Pat to buy straw from a farmer down the road.

The Custodians features three farmers, Mike Gavin, Johnny Flynn and Tim O’Connell, as they carry out their daily jobs. The photographs give us a personal snapshot into their lives and take us back in time while, capturing what they are all about in today’s world.

These men are, as David describes, “hidden Ireland” defined and in entitling the exhibition The Custodians, he says that “this is what these men are. They are custodians of the land and they have taken care of the land year after year, decade after decade. They have transcended technology and are made from the same substance and texture of the land they plough. There is a nobility about them.”

For more, see davidpolandphotography.com or contact Westmeath Arts Office on 044 93 32016 or arts@westmeathcoco.ie.