Eamon Carr launches Visions of America 1978–79
A major new photography exhibition and accompanying limited-edition book
Almost Made This Place My Own in the Music Room in collaboration with SO Fine Art Editions and Powerscourt Townhouse Centre from 11-19 June
A major new photography exhibition by Eamon Carr, documenting the vastness, contradictions and energy of late-1970s America, will open in the Music Room in collaboration with SO Fine Art Editions and Powerscourt Townhouse Centre on the 11th June at 5pm and will run until 19 June.
Visions of America 1978–79 brings together a striking collection of photographs captured by Carr while travelling extensively across North America with Horslips during 1978 and 1979. Shot during a period of relentless touring, the images trace a restless journey across the States – from New York to Los Angeles, Michigan to Texas, Seattle to Miami – capturing fleeting encounters, roadside moments, urban textures and landscapes that together form a vivid portrait of America at the close of the 1970s.
The exhibition emerged following conversations with Garry O’Neill and Niall McCormack, the duo behind the influential photographic celebration of Dublin youth culture and street style, Where Were You?, and founders of Hi Tone Books. Encouraged by O’Neill and McCormack, Carr began digitising a cache of long-unseen film negatives, uncovering hundreds of photographs that had remained largely unseen for decades.
Carr reflects: “When Bono said he had two conflicting visions of America, I understood implicitly what he meant. It was a similar revelation that prompted me to take these photographs many years earlier. Thankfully, I was blessed to have a camera with a very good lens.”
What emerged was not simply a tour diary, but a richly atmospheric body of work offering an unusual and deeply personal perspective on life in the United States during that era. The images move between intimacy and distance, documenting both the mythology and mundanity of America with an observant, poetic eye.
Intrigued by the visual narrative within the photographs, curator Catherine O’Riordan of SO Fine Art Editions collaborated with Powerscourt Townhouse Centre to secure a dedicated exhibition space adjacent to the gallery, named The Music Room, to present the exhibition in Dublin this summer.
O’Riordan said: “SO Fine Art Editions has championed and showcased photography for many years. We are delighted to present Eamon Carr’s talent and his unique vision of America during his touring years of 1978–79.”
Coinciding with the exhibition, Hi Tone Books will publish Almost Made This Place My Own – Visions of America 1978–79, a limited-edition collection of Carr’s American photographs. The publication features an introduction by Wendy Erskine, who describes the photographs as capturing “the strangeness of things” and notes that “the detailing is a delight”. The book will be available through the exhibition and selected bookshops.
Carr is best known as a founder member, lyricist and drummer of Horslips, the pioneering Irish folk-rock group whose most recent release is a vinyl LP ‘Tell ‘Em About It Johnny! Live At Winterland 1978’. Alongside his music career, Carr has worked extensively as a journalist, art historian and author. His published works include The Origami Crow: Journey into Japan World Cup Summer 2002, Deirdre Unforgiven (2013), Foundation Song(2023)and Showbusiness With Blood (2025) and Pure Gold (2025). His verse plays include DUSK (2016) and Cú Chulainn Awakes(2020). He is also a widely published commentator on culture, the arts and sport.
Visions of America 1978–79
Opening on Thursday 11 June (5-7pm) – Running until Friday 19 June (5.30pm)
The Music Room, beside SO Fine Art Editions, 2nd Floor Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, D2. 087 2549884
Opening times 10 am – 5.30pm Mon – Friday and 11am – 5 pm Saturday.