Tarragona, Catalunya; Esperantis
- Object:
Photograph
- Place of origin:
Tarragona (City), Spain (photographed)
- Date:
1998-2001 (photographed)
- Artist/Maker:
Shanahan, Patrick (Dr), born 1955 (photographer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Lamda print
- Credit Line:
Given by the artist
- Museum number:
E.270-2005
- Gallery location:
In Storage
In his series Esperantis, Patrick Shanahan photographs at night, focussing on peripheral urban areas that are brightly lit to reveal hyperreal spaces at once convincing but unsettling. Shanahan often concentrates on beach scenes that we are used to seeing in daylight, crowded with holiday makers. The emptiness of these tourist havens, combined with the artificial light that distorts the photograph in unexpected ways, adds to the strangeness of these images. Exploring the link between the real and the ideal, Shanahan plays with the material and psychological effects of modern urban spaces.
