BLOW Photo

08/08/2025

The magazine, which is run by a team of just three, is gaining international recognition for its purist approach

22/04/2025

BLOW Photo Magazine
Final Stock Sale
We're also liquidating our remaining BLOW Photo Magazine stock. Unfortunately, if left behind, these magazines will likely deteriorate due to poor conditions.

Place your order before Saturday, 26th April to ensure dispatch this week.
Orders placed after that may be delayed due to limited studio access.

SALE
FINAL SALE RUNS UNTIL SUNDAY, 27TH APRIL

We’re still auctioning off furniture, art, and other items from the studio to help pay off remaining debts. Your support means the world - purchasing a keepsake from our beloved space helps us move forward.

Check what’s still available via our website AUCTION.
Or browse directly on our ADVERTS.

DCC now has full control over the building, and we’ve only been granted access from 25th–27th April. All item pickups and dispatches must happen within that window.

04/04/2025

Discover Island Photographers, an artist-led group dedicated to increasing awareness and engagement with contemporary photography in Ireland. Through workshops, talks, education, exhibitions, and art sales, they highlight photography’s vital role in Irish visual culture. Since January 2023, they have been organising events where photographic artists share their work, receive critical feedback, and engage in broader discussions about photography.

Learn more: https://www.islandphotographersgroup.com/island-events

The group is managed by a team of dedicated professionals: Conor Horgan, Shane Lynam, Fionn McCann, Malcolm McGettigan, Yvette Monahan, Kate Nolan, Brían Sparks, and Agata Stoinska.

Upcoming Event: The Art of Collaboration in Photography
Island Photographers is hosting an exciting panel discussion on collaboration in photography. If you're passionate about photography and creative partnerships, this is an event you won’t want to miss!

📍 Location: United Arts Club, 3 Fitzwilliam Street Upper, Dublin 2, D02 RR50
📅 Date: Wednesday, April 9th
⏰ Time: Doors open at 18:45, event starts at 19:00
📩 RSVP: Secure your spot by 18:00 on Monday, April 7th via the Upcoming Events page on https://www.islandphotographersgroup.com/upcoming-events?ss_source=sscampaigns&ss_campaign_id=67ec1160648382523bdbbde8&ss_email_id=67ed18d28ad1bc56acc3d22b&ss_campaign_name=EVENT+%234%3A+Collaboration&ss_campaign_sent_date=2025-04-02T11%3A00%3A49Z&fbclid=IwY2xjawJcx9ZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHlF8CcML9afGizx2587-aoB-RW2EAMODHOuIYPiGlNeMYPgYEcNmwfzaqZ37_aem_uZckJM6msmEuzgPUHbSQhA
🎤 Meet the Panel:
✨ Linda Brownlee – Portrait, fashion & documentary photographer exploring the connection between people and place.
✨ Aisling Farinella – Stylist & creative director known for her naturalistic aesthetic and ability to elevate portraiture through fashion.
✨ Doreen Kilfeather – Dublin-based portrait & fashion photographer with a deep understanding of light, shadow, and intimacy.
✨ Brian Teeling – Artist exploring q***r identity, memory, and absence through photography, sculpture, and text.
✨ Keef Nally – Global creative & design director specializing in brand development, film, digital media, and object-based design.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with fellow creatives and gain insights from some of Ireland’s leading photography professionals!

06/05/2024

We are liquidating our stock of BLOW Photo Magazines.

We're saddened to share that our cherished home, D-Light Studios, is facing tough times and has had to close its doors to the public. Since 2008, D-Light has been a hub for art, culture, and community in Dublin's North Inner City, supporting local talent and fostering creativity. It has also been home to many artists and creatives, including BLOW Photo.

Despite D-Light’s commitment and efforts, neglect and delayed renovations from Dublin City Council have left us in a dire situation. With no alternative location, reimbursement, or timeline for necessary works, closure is imminent. Even if DCC finally proceeds with the renovations, the magazines will be left in unheated and wet conditions for months, inevitably leading to their deterioration.

All profits from sales of our magazines go directly to support D-Light’s ongoing negotiations with DCC. You can also contribute to the GoFundMe campaign.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/dlight-studios-is-fighting-for-survival

🔵 Buy 3 copies for €60, save €15
🔵 Buy 5 copies for €75, save €50
🔵 Buy 9 copies for €100, save €125!

BLOW, the first Irish-based, large format, fine art photography publication, was born in D-Light in 2010. Each issue explores a different theme, serving as a handheld exhibition showcasing emerging and established photographers from around the world.
BLOW was nominated for “best magazine” by the Lucie Foundation for three consecutive years from 2013 to 2015. Additionally, it has been recognised as an arts finalist of the David Manley Emerging Entrepreneur Awards in 2012 and 2013, and winner of ‘Print of the Year’ in 2010, 2015, and 2016 in Ireland.

Thank you for standing with us.

Image 1 - Special Issue // Breaking Point
Image 2 - Issue 15 // Abstract
Image 3 - Issue 14 // Self Portrait
Image 4 - Issue 13 // Surreal
Image 5 - Issue 12 // Monochromes
Image 6 - Issue 11 // Family
Image 7 - Issue 10 // Urban Scenes
Image 8 - Issue 9 // Animals
Image 9 - Issue 8 // New Pictorialism
Image 10 - Issue 7 // Portraits
Image 11 - Issue 6 // Stories
Image 12 - Issue 5 // Still Life
Image 13 - Issue 4 // Landscape & Architecture
Image 14 - Issue 3 // Body
Image 15 - Issue 2 // Film
Image 16 - Issue 1 // Staged
Image 17 - Pre Issue
Image 18 - Of Consequence

Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far by signing our petition and … Agata Stoinska needs your support for D-Light Studios is Fighting for Survival

27/02/2024

Hey everyone, if you haven't read it yet, here is an article by MICHAEL LANIGAN from Dublin Inquirer.

''[...] In 2020, Dublin City Council had put in for funding for the building as part of its application to the central government for north inner-city projects under the Urban Regional Development Fund.

It asked for €7.4 million towards a project expected to cost €9.8 million, shows the application from the time.

The plan was to repair and restore the building and bring it up to contemporary building standards of “accessibility, fire safety and energy performance”, says the application.

And, to replan the building for flexible use, it says, to continue arts and culture uses and “to provide opportunities and services for the local community, facilitate financially independent social enterprises and provide a cultural hub in the area”.

While Dublin City Council’s bid for funding for north inner-city projects was successful, it’s unclear if the granted amount – which was less than it applied for – included money for the North Great Clarence Street building.''

DCC guaranteed almost 2.5mln matching funding - in 2020 that would have been more than enough to make the building safe and fit for purpose. Even now it would be enough to cover the remedial works!

Dublin City Council plans to renovate the old building where the D-Light Studios has lived for 15 years. But the artists don’t want to move out without a hard agreement they can return.

14/11/2022

Good Morning , David , here taking over the  and  Instagram for the day.
In recognition of
‘The Rise’ , chapter six of the year-long photography survey program ‘In Our Own Image. A collaboration with and . Curated by the brilliant Agata Stoinska and Monika Chmielarz! 
 
Interested in landscapes' power to both delight and disturb, my practice continues to explore psychology, landscape, and place. Utilising conceptual and documentary approaches to explore states of mind, and the boundaries, physical and psychological, that can hold us in between.
 
Today I will be showing you some of my new work ‘Darkness Visible’ that began by trying to photograph something of what darkness feels like, setting myself the impossible task of photographing 'Darkness', yes, I know, but I loved the idea of using a medium that’s defined by light to capture something that is defined in its absence.
 
I was looking for both the physical and psychological qualities of darkness. Still using the setting of a small town in a less obvious way than in previous series, but still allowing it to dictate how and where the work is made. Darkness can turn our day and night in to something more by showing less.
 

12/11/2022

Hey hi hello, this is again with my last post as part of my and takeover.
For my last post I want to diver deeper into the works I have showing as part of In Our Own Image - The Rise in .

The show in D Light was an absolute joy to put together. I knew from the start that I wanted to use this opportunity as a chance to experiment with my practice. The project is based so much on altered states of consciousness so I wanted to bring that sense of dream-like surrealism through to the physical presentation of the work. Printing on fabric allowed for the work to gain a sculptural quality as it hung in space and billowed as people walked past.

The fabric itself was a luminescent satin which caught the light in a very interesting way and added a shimmering effect to the prints. I wanted to communicate how light and colours can be perceived differently when in an altered state of consciousness.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I did my initial round of shooting for this project in the summers of 2018 and 19. However, because I had spent so much time running from one religious retreat to another I had completely burnt myself out. That combined with two years of the pandemic really took the wind out of my sails and the project sat on the back-burner. I knew exactly what I needed to do in order to finish but I couldn’t for the life of me motivate myself to actually get up and do it.

That’s why I have to give the most heartfelt thanks to but in particular to and from Blow. Selecting me for this exhibition was exactly what I needed to reignite the fire and finish the project.

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at my work. If you have any questions at all or just want to have a chat please feel free to send a DM to my Instagram. Thanks again to listening to me rant!

12/11/2022

Howdy, this is again taking over the and Instagrams for the day. Hope you’re all having a very pleasant weekend. I’m going to continue giving a brief behind the scenes look at how my project ‘We Became Everything’ evolved over the last few years.

Having completed the initial burst of shooting in the summers of 2018 and 2019 I had finally got a grip on where I had wanted to go with the project. What started out as a very straightforward documentary project became more of a conceptual exploration of the idea of religious experiences.

Something that I was very interested in playing with was this idea that kept coming up whenever I talked to people at religious and spiritual retreats. People used different words for it but essentially the common idea was that people believed in a spiritual world that existed as a separate plane to the “real” world all around us. People believed that religious experiences - moments of spontaneous enlightenment, revelation, or even rapture were, in effect, moments in which we were in contact with this spirit world.

I became really fascinated with trying to photograph what this spiritual plane might look like. Would it be possible to arrange images of the “real world” in such a way that, when taken together as a sequence, they would become indicative of something fantastical?

I began reading psychological research papers that dealt with religious experiences and using people’s testimonies from these scientific studies as jumping off points for how I would shoot and sequence my images.

This was a real breakthrough in the project and I can talk about various aspects of it for hours (just ask) but a particular eureka moment was when I realised that one of the most common ‘symptoms’ of a religious experience was the loss of perception of time. The idea of using photography - the medium that is all about freezing and manipulating time - in order to try to depict these experiences started to make so much sense. The photos above are mostly never before seen images reflecting the most recent development of the project.

12/11/2022

Hi there, this is taking over the and Instagrams for the day. I want to use this opportunity to give people a little bit more insight into my project ‘We Became Everything’, some photos from which are currently showing as part of In Our Own Image - The Rise in .

We Became Everything is a project that tries to photograph what a religious experience looks like. The project has evolved since I first started it many years ago and I thought it would be interesting to provide a kind of behind the scenes look at how ideas evolve over time and how images can gain new powers depending on the context in which they’re deployed in.

When I first began shooting the work I didn’t quite know what the project was going to be about. In the initial stages it was a much more ‘straightforward’ documentary project. I knew that I was interested in religious/spiritual young people and their reasons for being devout at a time when society is becoming increasingly secular and distant from ideas of spirituality. I knew what I was interested in but I didn't really know what I wanted to say about it.

I began by spending a summer with as many different religious and spiritual groups as possible. This meant going on many retreats and therefore sharing extremely intense experiences on a regular basis. The pictures above are from this initial period. I was incredibly lucky to have been let into so many communities and I learned so much from everyone that I photographed along the way.

The more that I photographed the more that I realised that it was this idea of religious experiences - moments of altered consciousness that people sought out as a way of reckoning with issues in their lives - that was the real core of what I wanted to explore with the project.

I found that as the project developed I was changing my edit quite radically. I began to move away from more straightforward documentary images that showed what religious retreats looked like to weirder, more imperfect and enigmatic images that (to me) did a better job of conveying the mystery of what peak experiences felt like.

Stay tuned for more posts throughout the day ✌️

10/11/2022

Thanks blowphoto] Photo Museum Ireland] for the great opportunity to be part of it fantastic exhibition The Rise D-Light Studios]!

As my last post I would like to share a poem by the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke that deeply moves me and has been a great inspiration for my recent work „With all its Fear and Grace“

From ‘The Grown-Up’ by Rainer Maria Rilke

All this stood upon her and was the world
and stood upon her with all its fear and grace as trees stand, growing straight up, imageless yet wholly image...

As she endured it all: bore up under
the flying, the fleeting, the distant,
the inconceivably vast, the still to learn...

Till in the midst of play,
transfiguring and preparing for the future, the first white veil descended, gliding softly over her opened face, almost opaque there, never to be lifted off again, and somehow giving to all her questions just one answer: In you, who were a child once- in you.

D-Light Studios] blowphoto]