Joe Sterling
Working Distance
‘Working Distance’ is a body of work which examines the phenomenon of Polish workers coming to Ireland over the past decade in order to find work.
Until the 1960's due to economic pressures, mass emigration crippled the Irish nation. This trend was reversed at the turn of the century with the new industrial landscape and now it is the country of Poland which is experiencing a population drain as workers come here in search of work.
The landscape images were made in Poland over a period of two years while the portraits of workers were all shot in Ireland. The combined pictures contain a surreal quality forcing the eye to traverse the image drawing the viewer into a contract with the visual oppositions that exist between the two distinct locations.