Reportage artist documents migrant tents along Dublin's Grand Canal

Reportage artist documents migrant tents along Dublin's Grand Canal

Mark Condren & Darragh Kelly Santana

'I was always sketching, but it was only during Covid that I took up reportage live sketching,' shares Kate Kavanagh, a reportage artist with a journalistic background.

For her, it's about more than just observation; it's about finding the story in the scene.

'Events on the Grand Canal in Dublin are of huge human interest,' she said. 'I thought it was important to go down to record what was happening there.'

Kate's sketches of the migrant tents lining the canal banks capture not just images, but narratives. 'I was struck by the parallel lines of vivid blue tents, knowing they were sheltering people inside,' Kate said. 'It’s not just what I observe, but what I think about when I'm observing, I love to capture the human gesture and human expression.'