I have just been given an early Christmas present by the brother (thank you Ted) of Kevin Dwyer’s third book of arial photographs of Ireland.
Just like his previous two , this book is a stunner.

I have no hesitation in declaring an interest here , Kevin is a cousin.

What is wierd and wonderful about arial photographs is that they give you an utterly unexpected picture sometimes of things with which one is familiar.

Let us take the above shot for example.

It is one of Lough Derg , known as St. Patrick’s Purgatory , the most dreaded of pilgrammage spots in Ireland . There , I know I did this once , you are obliged to spend two days without food or sleep , doing penance by walking barefoot over stone beds.
I remember it with horror.

In Kevin’s shot it looks like an Italian resort on Lake Garda , lacking only a flotilla of speedboats to make it complete.

Things look different from the air.
From the air you can see the shadows of long abandoned fields , the true star shape of a fort and the remarkable symmetry of a prehistoric settlement.

This is a book that I will pick up more than once from the coffee table.