To look at the dark yet luminous world of Adrian O’Carroll’s photographs is to enter a realm of sensation. O’Carroll’s project is an existential one. The sphere he defines translates environment into a state of mind.  Each of O’Carroll’s photographs is taken from the perspective of walking. The journeys he takes are mostly local – the waterfront of Dublin harbour where he lives and works; or the glacial valleys of Glendalough, a lakeside retreat an hour away in County Wicklow or the volcanic tors of Iceland. Taking a walk can be a form of aimless perambulation or focused pilgrimage; it can be an adventure or a therapeutic release or a form of meditation.  For O’Carroll the terrain he walks through has become a metaphysical realm.  

In their composition, chromatic scale and attention to surface O’Carroll’s photographs relate to abstract painting. Central to O’Carroll’s work is his deployment of darkness and light. His landscapes can be interpreted as exploring states of grief that may be personal - but also universal.  He reveals the paradox of primordial environments shaped by deep geological time on a monumental scale – yet perilously fragile.  O’Carroll’s photographs ask us to look closely and understand that we are not separate from but part of nature

Adrian O'Carroll is a Dublin-based photographic artist originally from Southwest Donegal. Studying and working in photography primarily in London in his twenties, O'Carroll returned from a different career path to the medium in his fifties. He has published two books of his work titled '06.42' and '30/30' through Oonagh Young Gallery, Dublin. His photographs are featured in numerous private collections in Ireland and internationally, as well as in the collections of the Office of Public Works State Art Collection and the Highlands Gallery, Drogheda's Municipal Art Gallery. His exhibition history includes the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA), Dublin Castle, Hilsboro Fine Art, Boyle Arts Festival, Regional Cultural Centre Letterkenny, Oonagh Young Gallery, Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, and The Model Sligo. In 2023 he was awarded the Progressive Vision Curtin O'Donoghue Emerging Photographic Artist Award. Beyond his artistic output, O'Carroll has a notable history in arts advocacy and leadership. For over a decade in London he co-produced an annual lecture series at the Whitechapel Gallery, which fostered dialogues between art, architecture and design featuring visionary practitioners. He served as a Board Member of Project Arts Centre in Dublin for 9 years and has been on the Board of the National Gallery of Ireland since 2023 and is Chair of the Board of Guardians and Governors of the Gallery since 2024.