Paul Carroll, Bed of Trolley, 2018, Mixed media photograph, 25.4 x 38.1 cm

“Bed of trolley was one of the first images captured for Redd. At this point the series was a very loose concept. It had no shape and structure and also had a different working title. The title Redd came from an accidental meeting with a fisheries expert. He kept using the phrase ‘the fishes redd’ which he explained is their bed or layer. The image in some ways is a perfect summation of the series; the vehicle for throw away consumer culture nestling and becoming part of the environment it was never supposed to have inhabited.” Paul Carroll, 2021

Paul Carroll, Triangulation of bike, 2019, Mixed media photograph, 25.4 x 38.1 cm

“What is it about bikes being thrown in rivers? There has been multiple occasions for me to shoot bicycles in various states and forms within the river landscape. This one literally and figuratively stood out with a perfect triangle of tires framing the bike. Irish novelist Flann O’Brien would have had to update his Atomic Theory of the bicycle for our 21^st century predilection for discarding them in a watery grave.” Paul Carroll, 2021

Paul Carroll, The day the keyboard died, 2019, Mixed media photograph, 25.4 x 38.1 cm

“The day the keyboard died is one of the more peculiar finds on the journey of creating Redd. Inhabiting a space in a fallen tree in close proximity to a road cone it created more questions than answers. Some clues may lie in that it was captured on a Sunday morning, the possible fallout of a drunken Saturday night out. The title is a play on the line “the day the music died” from Don McClean’s song American Pie. The line refers to the plane crash in 1959 that killed early rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens.” Paul Carroll, 2021

Paul Carroll, The Myriad, 2018, Mixed media photograph, 25.4 x 38.1 cm

“The Myriad is one of the earlier images captured for Redd. The image doesn’t do full justice to the mess; an oven top, multiple cones and galvanised metal populate this particular waterway. This is one of many moments of observed environmental damage that caused me to pause. On these occasions a quote from Bill Hicks always came to mind: “We are a virus with shoes”. One passer by said he planned to use the items in the water to create a community art piece, a reconstitution of destruction into creativity.” Paul Carroll, 2021

Paul Carroll, Jacob’s ladder, 2018, Mixed media photograph, 25.4 x 38.1 cm

“Jacob’s ladder takes its name from a biblical story, in which the ladder signifies the ‘bridge’ between Heaven and earth as prayers and sacrifices offered in the Holy Temple soldered a connection between God and the Jewish people. The ladder in this instance connects us to discarded carpet, plates, cups and other pieces of rubbish littering one of our once pristine waterways. In the 1980s there were 500 pristine waterways within Ireland. As of 2019 there are 20.” Paul Carroll, 2021

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/just-20-of-ireland-s-rivers-are-pristine-down-from-500-in-1980s-1.4110018

Paul Carroll, 2019, Minnows in bloom, Mixed media photograph, 25.4 x 38.1 cm

“Minnows swimming in a heavily polluted urban waterway. Algae is often an indicator of pollution and a lack of oxygen in our rivers” Paul Carroll, 2021

“Of primary importance from an ecological and public health perspective is the abundance of nutrients containing nitrogen and phosphorus. The N:P ratio often determines which algae genera are dominant, present or absent in these nutrient-affected water bodies. Sources of the inorganic compounds that contain these elements include household laundry detergents, commercial fertilizers used for lawns and agriculture, and stormwater runoff, along with organic pollution from sewage-related sources including leaky septic tanks and livestock waste.” www.walpa.org