PEAT

The RPS Benelux Chapter INTERVIEW

Bo Scheeringa

“The photo book PEAT tells the story of the importance and the beauty of Irish peatlands and the transience of ancient Irish turf cutting traditions.”

© Bo Scheeringa - Traces of turfcutting by machine

One of the great things about Social Media is

that you meet photographers that you normally don't meet in person. I met photographer Bo Scheeringa on Facebook quite some time ago. I saw very good photo work of Ireland passing by. It sometimes reminded me of Jill Freedman’s work in the photo book 'A time that was’ from 1987, which is exclusively black and white. Bo Scheeringa’s work distinguishes itself from this having spent a year (June 2019 - June 2020) working on her photo book 'Peat', published in October 2021 containing many colour images in addition to black and white.

Bo's book was partly realised by using crowdfunding on 'Voor de Kunst' site. Bo has collected no fewer than 155 donations, which means that the photo book is now available through Komma publisher, Dutch bookstores and her own website. All the more reason to interview her!

Bo, you studied at the Photo Academy in Groningen, what did it bring you?

About 15 years ago, the silent, spacious, everchanging landscape of my direct surroundings in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands, inspired me to photograph with more attention. This initially resulted in beautiful pictures for postcards, but more and more I felt the need for deepening my work. I studied at the Fotoacademie for three years, where I learned to look at photography at a different way.

Of course I learned at the Photo Academy how to apply the technique and how to work on a project basis but two other things were most important to me. While working on the study assignments I experienced that doors opened for me. People were almost always willing to contribute to a photo. It was groundbreaking for me, to approach interesting people or situations to photograph without timidity and hesitation. Without this training I would never have dared what I do now, it is now the most normal thing for me to do, to approach people I want to photograph.

The second important thing I learned is to photograph from a basic feeling, your own basic feeling, that way your own style and approach will automatically show up in your photography. It is important to discover what that basic feeling is for you. For me this is melancholy and desire. Feelings that everyone experiences from time to time, for me they are a common thread in my life but also a great source of inspiration!

As a landscape photographer you have a great passion for Groningen in the Netherlands and Ireland. How did that happen?

I really love the landscape of the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. Because the landscape is so wide, you always see a lot of sky that is constantly changing and with it the light on the landscape. When I visited Ireland for the first time, I was immediately captivated by the beauty of the vast peatlands. Standing on a hill, surrounded by green sloping mountains, I looked down, watching shadows of the clouds gliding across the landscape. Amidst this overwhelming space I was touched by the mystical energy of this breath-taking scenery.

There is a lot of 'space' in your landscape photos. You often show a lot of the environment in your landscapes. For what reason?

This vastness and the space give me a feeling of freedom and security. I believe that everything is connected, we are part of nature, and we are all connected to everything by a loving universal energy. It makes me feel puny realising that the

river will still flow and the wind will still blow when I'm gone. When I’m in that wide and spacious landscape, it is very easy for me to feel that connection. I find it very inspiring; I am always trying to express this through my photos.

In your series of portraits it is different, why?

I am looking for reflections of my own inner world, in my models and the landscapes I photograph. In my landscape photography I find it in the vastness and the space but to find these reflections in people I have to get close, literally and figuratively.

About your report you made in Ireland. You focused on the landscapes, the sheep and peat. The people who use it. What attracted you to this?

My first trip to Ireland was in the summer of 2013, I noticed that, traditionally, many Irish in the countryside in the North West, are still cutting turf and use it as fuel. During one of my walks during that first stay in Ireland, I met a family loading sods of turf on a trailer. I asked if I could take a picture and they willingly stopped to pose. This authentic, nostalgic image of this family and the whole thing about peat extraction never let go of me after that, and this photo turned out to be the birth of my photo project PEAT. In June 2019, I left to go to Ireland for a year, to live in a cottage near a secluded bay in Ballycroy, County Mayo, amidst extensive peatland and the mountains of Ballycroy National Park to work on the project. I started to delve into the subject and discovered turf cutting has a downside also: peat is an ecosystem capable of absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). When peatland is exploited for peat extraction, it no longer absorbs CO2; on the contrary, it becomes an enormous emitter. Moreover, burning the peat again releases high CO2 emissions. Ireland's bogs have become a natural historical monument of great international value. With the Irish ones, the last remaining raised bogs in Europe are in danger of disappearing; elsewhere in Europe all of them have been mined, including in the Netherlands.

Burning peat does not contribute to reducing CO2 emissions. How have you depicted this in your photographic work? How did the Irish react to this part of your project?

I don’t criticise or express an opinion. I just observe and notice there is also a downside to the turf cutting. Peatland and turf cutting has always been important for the Irish and is part of their life and culture, cutting and using turf is a deeprooted tradition, an undeniable part of Irish rural life, as is agriculture. In Ireland the alternative for turf is oil, which is very expensive. The thing is, in western Ireland people live next door to the bogs and own them. Even with all kinds of machinery turf cutting still is hard labour, but it’s no way near the old manual way. You have to work for your fuel but otherwise it’s free. So with no affordable alternatives available many people in Ireland will stick to their centuries-old tradition as long as possible.

A lot of my pictures of the vast peatlands in North-West Ireland show a beautiful wide natural scenery, with sloping mountains merging into a vast peat landscape and, depending on the season, showing different shades of green or brown. However, taking a closer look, you see the traces of turf cutting: the encrusted drained peat, the holes, the trenches, the gullies and the walls. I photographed the beauty of this mysterious landscape but also the use of it, showing the battered black peatland of a bog and the

distinctive scented white peat smoke that blows through almost every Irish village or country town.

The photo book PEAT tells the story of the importance and the beauty of Irish peatlands and the transience of ancient Irish turf cutting traditions.

Some people in Ireland say a long-term scheme should become available whereby landowners receive compensation to care for their bogs and if they have invested in turf cutting machines they should be granted to reclaim these costs through a one-time subsidy from the EU, to break new ground to make a living.

This subject is now more topical than ever, given the recent IPCC report and the climate goals that have to be achieved and the need to stop using fossil fuels in the foreseeable future.

In your book you alternated colour photos with black and white images. Why do you sometimes choose colour and other times black and white?

Initially I wanted to use black and white photos only, to emphasise the authentic atmosphere of the whole process of the turf cutting and the use of it. I was inspired in this by the book about The Outer Hebrides of Scotland by Paul Strand. However, this Irish landscape with all these beautiful shades of green and brown also calls for colour photographs. That's why I chose a combination of both. Broadly speaking, I am telling the story of the turf cutting through black and white images and frame this story with colour photos of the landscape where it all takes place.

You have also included appealing portraits in your book and in some interiors, it seems that there is poverty. Is this true? How did you experience life in County Mayo and County Sligo in Ireland?

When we see a peat-fired stove we may associate it with poverty, this is not always correct. In our eyes it is old fashioned but in rural Ireland it is still very common. I did however see several people living a simple life, as a sheep farmer and maybe owning a few cows too, and yes, it is true, there is less prosperity in the countryside than in the urban areas. This is caused by a lack of employment, which is why many young people are leaving this region, and the old stay behind. What I found striking compared to The Netherlands, is that residents in the countryside the age of about 50+ seem to be a generation behind in terms of digital development. In The Netherlands most grandfathers and grandmothers have a smartphone, email address and a Facebook account and do their banking online. In rural Ireland this is not the case. Sometimes time seems to have stood still in these rural areas, this is in stark contrast to modern prosperous cities like Dublin and Cork.

What is your next project and why did you made this choice?

Working on the project PEAT was very intense for a couple of years. I do have a lot of new ideas but have decided to hold off on this for a while, so I can't and don't want to say anything about it yet.

© Bo Scheeringa - Pages 8-9 - Peatlands National Park © Bo Scheeringa - Page 10 - Easky bog

The photo book is for sale through the website of Bo Scheeringa. You can order it (signed).

With Christmas just around the corner, this might be a nice addition to your collection!

Book specifications

Photography and text Bo Scheeringa Bookdesign Wout de Vringer Publisher uitgeverij Komma Language English (with Dutch QR code) Size 24x 30 cm Hardcover and pages 192 Images 113 Price € 64,-

© Bo Scheeringa - Rural sheepfarmer

© Bo Scheeringa - Page 14 - Cutting by Slean © Bo Scheeringa - Page 15 - Turf stacks © Bo Scheeringa - Pages 16-17 - Sitting close to the turf fired range © Bo Scheeringa - Pages 18-19 - Turfsmoke in Bangor Erris (County Mayo) © Bo Scheeringa - Pages 20-21 - Getting the turf home