Faoi Thalamh is a body of work containing ninety-two images from underground techno events
in Cork during the period 2021-2023. It also includes a documentary that I directed this year
focused on rave culture and the various subcultures within Cork nightlife. The first of these
events, ‘Stay Home’ by Dali, took place in September of 2021 and was the first event
photography work I’d ever done. It was the initial step into a world that quickly became a critical
part of my life.
This body of work, as much as it is a story of the rebirth in the techno culture of Cork, is equally
a story of my own growth and development as an artist. You can learn as much about me and
my style here as you can about the inner workings of Cork’s rave scene. Individually, each of
these images represent a snapshot of current Irish nightlife, but as a collection, they become my
self portrait.
Bio
Galway raised, Cork based artist ‘Maclaine Black’ is a photographer, filmmaker and visual artist.
Maclaine’s work focuses mostly on portraiture and events in the techno scene; shot almost
exclusively in black and white. They are inspired by the beauty of abstraction, skewing the
verisimilitude of life. They have worked with some of the biggest DJs in Ireland and Europe and
have done national and internation photography events. In 2023, they unveiled a collaborative
exhibition, ‘I Know The Sun Must Set,’ in Galway; dealing with grief and the grieving process. A
year earlier they self-published a body of work titled ‘ANXN,’ a deeply personal project dealing
with their own mental health and identity. Maclaine believes everyone has a story to tell and
hopes to document these stories wherever and whenever they appear in our uncertain futures.
Maclaine has just finished studying filmmaking in Cork (Film, TV and Video Production at Cork
College of FET, Douglas ST Campus) and will begin studying filmmaking in Berlin in 2024.
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