The Melting Pot (2025) - Sam Welburn's Portfolio

- This collection of images presents a visual link to the rich history between Ireland and America, focusing on New York. Made over four years to both countries, the evocative photographs in this sequence aim to focuses on the geography and history of Ireland and New York, the project unfolds itself to highlight the collective melting pots of many cultures in these places. Employing the method of the dérive through psychogeographic walking throughout the cities and their palimpsest of Belfast, Dublin and New York, the images sought to connect the Irish link to America within the 21st century through the photographs. Many millions of Irish immigrated to America during the 19th century due to famine, with the housing crisis in Ireland during the 2020’s, the work sets out to see how that migration would look now in the contemporary present through the vernacular of these places. In 2023, 39,176 Americans made their way to Dublin to watch the College football match between Notre Dame and Navy. Subsequently it the largest record for Americans to travel internationally for a sporting event. Though the work focuses on the geography and history of Ireland and New York, the project unfolds itself to highlight the collective melting pots of many cultures in these places.

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