Momentum
Connecting skate culture with contemporary photography & visual expression
Momentum is a youth-centred creative project that brings skateboarding culture into dialogue with contemporary photography, design and visual storytelling. Led by Photo Museum Ireland, it creates a rare space where young people can explore creativity through the culture, community and visual language of skateboarding, while connecting with artists, ideas and resources that open up new possibilities for expression.
The project reflects a core part of Photo Museum Ireland’s mission: making photography more accessible, relevant and connected to the experiences of diverse audiences. Rooted in the environments, interests and communities of the participants themselves, Momentum uses photography as a way to explore identity, document experience, build confidence and develop creative agency.
Practical skills acquired included Polaroid exposure and lifting, creating Super 8mm animations, and the complete zine production process, encompassing post-production, editing, design, layout, and publication.
The workshop provided students with a comprehensive introduction to photographic production at Photo Museum Ireland. It covered a wide array of techniques, from the fundamentals of camera construction and analogue photography to darkroom printing and modern digital imaging.
“By bringing together skateboarding and visual art, this project is about community, identity, and representation. We’re challenging stereotypes and giving young skaters the space to tell their own stories.”
For Photo Museum Ireland, the significance of the project lies in how it extends the reach of the museum’s education work and shows what a contemporary photography institution can do when it works in an inclusive, responsive and community-led way. It creates meaningful access points to creative practice for young people, while strengthening the museum’s role as a space for participation, exchange and artistic development.
By opening up its spaces, facilities and expertise to a new generation of makers, Photo Museum Ireland supports young people and artists to explore their ideas, develop their voices and see themselves reflected within a wider creative landscape. Momentum champions photography as a medium for connection, representation and self-definition, while affirming the value of cultural spaces that welcome new communities in thoughtful and lasting ways.
Thank you to our Momentum Crew
Shiv, Rares, Robinson, Ryan, Darragh, Rich, Phil, Darragh.
Explore Momentum Zine
Momentum Tutors
Momentum is guided by artists whose work is closely connected to skateboarding, photography and visual storytelling. Our tutors, Phil Evans, Rich Gilligan and Darragh Shanahan, each bring their own perspective to the project, helping shape its creative direction and collaborative spirit.
Rich Gilligan
Rich Gilligan began his career photographing the skateboard scene in his hometown Dublin, Ireland. These roots set the groundwork for his loose, documentary approach. He began making his own zines as a teenager and worked as a skate photographer for a variety of publications worldwide. He now shoots a wide range of commissioned projects worldwide while continuing to pursue his artistic work. Rich has had solo exhibitions in Belfast, Melbourne, Switzerland, Inis Oirr, Kilkenny, Galway, Munich, Dusseldorf, London, Dublin. Previous photographic publications include Time/Line (Self Published) 2008, DIY (1980 Editions) 2012, Rituals (AAD) 2014, Burnside (Driftwood) 2014, DIY (Prestel) 2014, Town (The Salvage Press) 2018 and Collapsing Distance (South Wind Blows) 2021. He is currently based in Wicklow, Ireland.
Phil Evans
Phil Evans is a multidisciplinary Irish artist working across film and animation. Rooted in analogue processes, his practice emphasizes texture, spontaneity, and the handmade.
Phil discovered skateboarding in the small town of Bray and quickly learned that his skills lay firmly behind the camera – thus begun long journey of filmmaking, animation and storytelling.
Coming from a background of painting and skate videos, Phil’s unique animation style is a fusion of traditional hand-drawn techniques and modern digital tools, allowing him to create visually rich, textured work that feels both nostalgic and contemporary.
Darragh Shanahan
Darragh Shanahan is a visual artist based in Dublin. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) Degree in Photography from TU Dublin. In 2023 He was shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize at the National Gallery of Ireland. Shanahan’s first photography book Love is a Stranger was shortlisted for the 2014 Kassel Book Dummy Award, which toured photography festivals internationally. In February 2020 he launched his first solo exhibition ‘Everybody Knows’ at The Space Between. In 2009 his band Dark Room Notes was nominated for the Choice Music Prize for Best Irish Album. Between 2006 – 2008 he ran photography programmes at an after-school project of the Family Resource Centre (FRC) in St. Michael’s Estate that was exhibited in the Irish Museum of Modern Art and St Michaels Flats for Common Ground, an arts organisation working with artists and communities. His short film Andy’s Promise featured at the 2007 Darklight film festival at the Irish Film Centre. Shanahan is the Exhibition and Education Manager at Photo Museum Ireland, where he also runs workshops specifically for outreach programmes for people with intellectual disabilities.
Photo Museum Ireland gratefully acknowledges the support of the Dublin skateboarding community, including Philip Halton of Goblin Magazine, Naoise McCarthy of High Rollers Skate Store, and artists Rich Gilligan and Phil Evans. And a big thank you to artist Eamonn Doyle for supplying the photographic paper for the Darkroom workshops.
The project is curated by Darragh Shanahan.
This project is made possible by funding from Dublin City Council’s Community Development Grant.
