Photo of the Month: February 2023

I’ve named this photograph “The Kiss”. It was taken during one of the first nights after the end of a lockdown, in September 2021. The pubs had started reopening and the city was buzzing.

I was walking towards Grattan Bridge, at the end of Capel Street, when this couple started kissing, blissfully oblivious to anything around them. That kiss, in that moment, seemed the symbol of a rediscovered freedom, after a long period of social distancing and forced isolation.

Born in Turin, Italy, I graduated with a BA in photography from the Dublin Institute of Technology in 2006. I’m inspired by my experiences of moving through different cities and my past extended travels. Contemporary urban spaces, migration and grassroots social activism are the focuses of my visual practice.

In 2008, I was the recipient of an ABBEST scholarship and joined the Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practices (CTMP) to develop a visual ethnographic research around urban social practices and undocumented migrants in the city of Turin. I’ve also undertaken commissions for the Italian Cultural Institute, the British Council, RTÉ, Oxfam and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

I’m currently based in Dublin, where I continue to cultivate my passions for photography and music. You can see more of my work on my website, veronicavierin.com, my three Instagram accounts – @vvnocturnes, @vv.portraits and @veronicavierin – and my Facebook.

Dublin Inquirer is running a Photo of the Month competition each month. The winner gets €50 and publication online and in print. If you’d like to enter, you can find the guidelines here. Entries for March are open from now until the end of the day Friday 3 March.