Photographer and poet in joint Verbal Arts exhibition

‘Convergence’ opens on Poetry Day Ireland and runs until Friday June 30 at the Bishop Street venue.

The artist and poet Noel Connor and the renowned photographer and writer David Gepp, were both born and brought up in Belfast, Noel in Andersonstown, David in Finaghy.

Less than a mile apart, the two areas are connected by Finaghy Road North, an arterial route which joined or separated two of the Protestant and Catholic communities of the city.

Noel said he was always conscious that his territory only stretched as far as the motorway bridge, as just beyond that lay ‘the Field’, where the Orangemen would gather after their Belfast parades on each 12th of July.

David’s memoir, Finding Finaghy (published by Lagan Press) captures the history and background of his family and life on the other side of the bridge.

A spokesperson for the exhibition said: “A chance meeting three years ago has led to a friendship and a shared love and fascination for a section of Donegal coastline where David has settled and Noel spends part of each year working.

“Working separately and arriving from very different directions, technically and creatively, their concerns converge to produce remarkable currents and cross currents.”