Dublin-born Harry Thuillier Jr (1964-1997) studied photography in Memphis College of Art and completed his BA in Fine Art Photography in Boston before studying under Jerry Uellsmann in Florida. On his return to Dublin, he took up large format photography and honed his skills in the complex and demanding art of Platinum/Palladium printing – a difficult, painstaking process that dates from the very beginnings of photography.

His subject matter was noted for its particular darkness: ancient skulls, limbs decorated with opium pods and ethereal, otherworldly nudes. Garnered on endless, restless journeying, his images have the air of being snatched in extremis. They are things at the edges of the world, the fringes of experience.

Thuillier continued to develop his compelling and fascinating work until his tragic death in Milan in December 1997. A posthumous major retrospective of Thuillier’s work was staged in the Gallery of Photography Ireland in 2000.