ASH/SIN

Ash shows how deeply permeated Ireland is by Catholicism, in both an historical sense, and socially and politically. Since the 1990s, simultaneously with the country’s economic progress, Catholicism has however been losing ground. David Farrrell photographed Ash Wednesday, the rite marking the beginning of Lent, symbolizing the believer’s sensitivity to sins that have been committed – a ritual in which Irish Catholics still display their devotion. He also did the series Sin (from the larger series Church) on confessionals – dark, complex places where the truth is hidden from the outside world.