John Duncan (b.1968)

Donegall Pass 2016

Photography, digital print

58cm x 41cm

Courtesy of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland

http://www.johnduncan.info/index.html

John Duncan studied Documentary Photography in Newport graduating in 1989 and Fine Art Photography at Glasgow School Art graduating in 1992. He has been one of the editors of Source Photographic Magazine since 1994. He continues to make his own work and his photobook ‘Bonfires’ was published by Steidl in 2008. In 2018 he was one the invited artists for EVA in Limerick. He has showed work across the UK and internationally over the last 25 years in a range of solo and group exhibitions including Temple Bar Gallery, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Belfast Exposed.

The building in this photograph was originally purpose built for the Girls' Friendly Society and was repurposed as a police station in the 1950’s. The Northern Ireland Policing Board gave approval for the disposal of Donegall Pass Police Station in 2012. The image shows the demolition of the security post at the front of the station. The photograph is from the body of work 'Belfast Resurfacing' which also includes images of vacated police stations on the Ormeau Road, Newtownards Road, Shore Road, Carrick Hill and Queen Street. The work explores the urban landscapes of Belfast as it transforms in its ‘post conflict’ period. It critically examines the projects that are attempting to make the city sustainable in the long term, as a place people want to live in, invest in and visit. It also explores the continued divisions that make this process more difficult, pointing to the challenges facing societies as they transition from conflict.