An Irish photographer and artist based in Dublin, Dónal Talbot is currently displaying his work in the Love, Lust & Freedom exhibition about international queer photography. The focus of the exhibition is capturing what it means to live authentically queer, something Talbot has aimed to capture in his work.

Through his photography, Talbot seeks to empower the LGBTQ+ community predominately through portraiture with natural settings. He started his journey in photography at university while studying Fine Art Media at NCAD.

“It was a time of real transformation for me. I was meeting so many fascinating people, and discovering my own identity as a queer person along the way,” he told GCN.

“I wanted to capture these new experiences I was having, and to document the people around me. I began taking portraits of my friends and colleagues, in the hopes of capturing the burgeoning queer scene of Dublin. At that time, I felt inspiration in almost every place I looked. On dance floors, in gay bars or someone’s bedroom. I guess I felt inspired by the spaces that queer people inhabited.”

The inspiration Talbot gained from these experiences was incorporated into a photo series called Our Spaces, featuring members of the LGBTQ+ community in their “safe spaces” in Dublin. 

“Ultimately, that inspiration and mode of working became the driving force of my artistic practice,” he said.

When asked what is to be expected from the Love, Lust & Freedom exhibition, the Irish photographer responded: “Love, Lust & Freedom is a photography exhibition that documents the diverse experiences of queer individuals worldwide.”

He continued, “The exhibition itself illuminates various facets of the contemporary queer experience, including complex stories about ‘coming out’ alongside depictions of intimacy and tenderness in the face of adversity.”

The artist has an eye for raw, pure moments with the subjects that he captures in his photography.

Talbot explained, “I’ve always been interested in capturing moments of tenderness in my work, whether it’s intimate portraits of people in their bedrooms, or objects that capture the subtle nuances of the queer experience.”

When asked about the idea behind his photos for the exhibition, Talbot responded: “For this exhibition I selected a series of images from my time living between New York and Dublin in my early 20’s. It was a somewhat overwhelming time in my life as I began to navigate the queer scene in a new city whilst developing my style as a portrait photographer.”

He continued, “I found that in this process I felt most at peace when taking photographs of people in my community. The images I’ve presented in this exhibition capture the peaceful moments of artistic calm I experienced in that chapter of my life.”

Along with other emerging artists like Talbot, the exhibition is also showcasing some well-established photographers. Among others, the works of the following artists will be displayed in the exhibition: Mengwen Cao, MC Coble & Louise Wolthers, Samet Durgun, Nan Goldin, Marvel Harris, Florian Hetz, Clifford Prince King, Julie Lauerberg, Robert Mapplethorpe, Sven Marquardt, Rafal Milach, George Nebieridze, Niels Nedergaard, Ralf Obergfell, Tero Puha, Laurence Rasti, Mary Steen, Christer Strömholm, Dónal Talbot, Birk Thomassen and Wolfgang Tillmans.

“It’s quite surreal actually. To have my work displayed alongside some of the artists who first inspired me to pick up a camera is a very gratifying feeling,” Talbot said.

“The exhibition itself is split into two rooms, one in darkness and one in light. However, there’s no hierarchy among the artworks exhibited, which creates an interesting dynamic in the context of queer storytelling. I truly felt that curator of the show, Marianne Ager, valued the diverse experiences of the artists equally.”

The exhibition is already open at the Kunstmuseum Brandts and will remain accessible to the public until January 2025 in Odense, Denmark. For further information on Dónal Talbot, check out his website.