Giles Norman: A Study in Black-and-White Success
October/15/2007 Ireland Journal
The plan for today was to visit the southern seacoast town of Kinsale, which in recent years has become known as a center for creative cuisine. I had also heard that it was the home to a first-rate landscape photographer who works strictly in black and white. So when I asked at a local craft shop where I might find the gallery of Giles Norman, the proprietor knew exactly where to send Jim and me. I expected we would find a small storefront that is typical of most retail photographic galleries I have visited. Was I in for a surprise!
The light-and-airy gallery was at least twice the size I was expecting, and it it skillfully organized to exhibit Giles' work at its best and also to make it easy for shoppers (like us) to make their image selections. I quickly settled on a richly detailed study of a ram guarding the path to a county cottage with the air of a defiant watch dog. You can see the image on Norman's website, which will give you an idea of the breadth, depth and excellence of his portfolios.
I loved the simplicity of the single-choice black framing, which is both artistic and practical, and I was particularly taken by the simple, yet powerful statements of Giles' floral close-ups. The artist wasn't in today, but his assistant told me that Giles has operated the gallery in this building for more than 10 years, and he also has a gallery in Dublin.
I would suggest that any photographer who is considering the feasibility of opening a retail gallery for any type of fine art photography to look at the model Giles Norman has created by visiting his Kinsale gallery. With three brilliant reasons to come to Kinsale . . . the gallery, the cuisine, and the fabulous images around every corner (I made over 300 exposures there today) . . . Kinsale should indeed be on top of the itinerary for any photographer's visit to Ireland.