Customer Reviews

Ireland Ever: The Photographs of Jill Freedman

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Gutsy acclaimed documentary photographer Jill Freedman is probably best known for her splendid documentary photographs of New York City police officers and civil rights demonstrations in Washington, DC. So it may surprise people who are unfamiliar with her work that she is also a superb documentary photographer of the Irish people and landscape. Her images show much empathy for both the people and landscape of Ireland, capturing both the honesty of its inhabitants and the beauty of its rural countryside. This book is a collection of the best images of her Irish oeuvre, accompanied by text written by the brothers McCourt, old friends of hers from their days at the Lion's Head, a famous, now departed, Greenwich Village, New York City tavern frequented by many distinguished Irish and Irish-American writers and musicians.

I am a great fan of Frank McCourt, he has lit the fire in me to read again. Although his contribution to this book is little more than a foreword, it is Ireland through his eyes, and through the eyes of the people who adore it.
The images are amazing, from the quiet fields to the pubs, it shows Ireland in all it's lush culture. It is a book that photographers can admire, and people of Irish descent can hold close to their hearts. Although it is expensive (its only downfall), it is more than worth buying, to sit on a coffee table. Where it will never gather dust, because you will always crack it open to see a favorite picture.

I had never heard of Jill Freedman before I bought this book, but I'm glad I did. She captures a world that is part fun, part sad, and all authentic. From scenes of children to musicians to pint drinkers, the black and white photography is key to viewing a world that is endearing to so many.

I first saw this book at my daughter's house. She lived in Ireland for years and I traveled there to visit. This book is unique in that it captures unstaged views of Irish life. The photos presnt activities I have obvserved but not recorded. The photos set-forth ungarded moments in many different aspects of the society. The photos present the intereactions and actions of people that portrays the lives they live in the countryside and the cities. It is a most ungaurded and sensative portayal of a unique society.

This book has many wonderful photographs taken over a long time ,although there are no dates(why?)Especially the animal photographs rise often to be very memorable indeed.Pictures of musicans are a delight.There also a few clunkers the editor should have advised against including here.It seems that the whole approach to designing book was more as a travel book that evokes the atmosphere of the emerald isle,which it does very much so,but as a book of work by an artist it hasnt been served well by designers.The reproductions are washed out making it seem like a book from the fifties,the layout is really a hodge-podge .The worst offense is printing the strongest pictures across the gutter making them automatically weaker and annoying to look at in their entirety.The book is square and most of the photos are in the long format ,weird!Much money was surely spend on the cover but the green band with title is unreadable as is the the picture behind it.Still many photos survive this ill treatment and deserve to be seen and enjoyed.I wish that some other time this fine photographer will get a better representation of her work.