Faith
Jackie Nickerson

*This photobook is on loan for the PhotoIreland Festival 2022 from Christine Redmond.*

Jackie Nickerson’s Faith is a compelling portrayal of a hidden world, the Catholic religious orders of Ireland. Her combination of gentle portraits and simple documentation of daily rituals and communal devotion suggest an austere existence grounded in optimism, strength and contentment. The simplicity of Nickerson’s images invokes the muted and restrained palette of Fra Angelico, bringing an often beatific air to her tranquil subjects. Whilst never suggesting that she is able to divine or represent the veiled mysteries of faith, Nickerson does manage to honestly present a vocational life riven by clarity of purpose and personal courage. ¹

Jackie Nickerson (b. 1960, American-born British; lives and works in London, and Ireland) uses photography to materialize her thinking. Her research-based practice stems from extensive, years-long study of histories, processes, places, and peoples before she introduces her camera into the space. Often interpreted as documentary, her photographs layer complex relations and intersections that arise from her knowledge base.
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Born in Göttingen in 1950, Gerhard Steidl began working as a printer and designer in 1969. Soon the customers of his screen-printing workshop included Joseph Beuys, Marcel Broodthaers and Nam June Paik, among other well-known artists. In 1972, the first Steidl book Befragung der documenta (Questioning documenta) was published. From political non-fiction he then expanded into literature and selected books on art and photography.
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MACK Books are an art and photography publishing house based in London, working with established and emerging artists, writers and curators, and cultural institutions. ⁴