Connemara’s ‘wild west’ through lens of camera

When Mark Joyce looks out the back door of his Recess home, there is wilderness as far as the eye can see. Mountains, lake and bogland offer a huge variety of colours and shadows, depending on the day and even the time of the day.

Seeing your home place through fresh eyes isn’t always easy, but for Mark who has long been fascinated by photography this landscape is a delight.

He has captured these views and a whole lot more in his first ever book, a photography collection, A Portrait of Connemara.

The beautifully produced book contains some 150 photographs capturing many aspects of this diverse place, from the scenery to the people. And while the obvious landscapes and buildings are present, there are many hidden gems too – such as the the saddle of a Brooks bicycle, the rural post box in Glinsk, and a pile of scattered bones on Omey Island.

“I’ve been taking photos forever,” says Mark who is the fourth generation of his family to run the well-known Joyce’s gift shop in Recess.

As a child he had always wanted to work in film, so after finishing school – in pre-Google days – he went through the telephone directory and found all the film-related businesses in Galway. He wrote to them and hit the jackpot when the city-based Film Resource Centre offered him work, doing advertising, design and “a bit of everything”.

Then he went to Dún Laoghaire College of Art and Design where he studied model-making and special effects for film. That was his first serious introduction to photography, he says, and it became a serious hobby.

After college, Mark joined the Roger Corman Studios in Baile na hAbhainn for several years and also worked on several feature films in Dublin and England as a freelancer.

When his mother became ill one summer, he returned to Recess to run the family business. It was meant to be a temporary measure for the then 24-year-old.

“But I loved it, and made my parents an offer and I’ve been there ever since,” he explains. Mark is married to local woman, Kathleen Davis, a ceramic artist from Inishnee. They first met at secondary school in Clifden, and got together as a couple after they both moved back to the area after their time elsewhere. They now have two daughters, Sadie and Alice.

Running the shop is a seasonal business, so it’s ideal for Mark.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.