What's the Craic?
Craic is my attempt to publish my own work, through championing Northern Irish culture. It started as a response to increasing tensions during the pandemic and through Brexit in the U.K.
Who is James Robinson, what do you do and what do you aspire to do?
I am an image-maker primarily! I take photos and I also love to style! I aspire to be better than yesterday and worst than tomorrow.
What are you reading at the moment?
I’m reading this email. No seriously! I’m reading a book called ‘What Artists Wear’ by Charlie Porter, I’d highly recommend!
What is Craic Magazine, and how did it start?
Craic is my attempt to publish my own work, through championing Northern Irish culture. It started as a response to increasing tensions during the pandemic and through Brexit in the U.K. which caused divisions amongst religious groups.
What is your earliest memory with photography?
My first memory of photography actually came was when a car crashed outside the front of my house and flipped upside down. My dad took the best photo of it and I still remember it to this day as the first photograph I ever seen. Luckily no one was hurt!
What are the elements of Irish Culture that you are most interested in documenting through your work?
I am interested particularly in documenting people and places. Northern Ireland is so rich visually and there’s so much to explore. I love history and mythology as well as slang, there’s almost endless options to explore. In the first issue of Craic I did a photoshoot at The Giants Causeway, a volcanic rock formation that most people symbolise with a giant called Finn McCool. The styling references this through the use of a 6 pack chest piece and a hammer as visual cues and hints to the locations past.
It seems to me that in the UK there is a big photography/magazine scene, what about the culture there has lent itself to this unique scene of image making?
Importantly I think most people want to do something, there’s such a lack of support from the government in the arts and that leads to people saying ‘fuck this’ going and doing their own thing. At least that’s my perception. That’s why I think there’s so many independent zines/magazines and more and more self publishers. It’s also so much more accessible to print a zine now than it used to.
What are some things you would like to shout out?
I love to shout out my Mum, my Dad and my family! My friends. Everyone who has supported Craic on this journey so far!
