Dragan Tomas

Irish Travellers are traditionally a nomadic people living in Ireland with a history as ellusive and complex as the culture itself. They have their own language and live by a “travellers code” that sets them apart - a culture within a culture. In the Irish language Travellers are known as Lucht Siúil, which means, the walking people. They are not gypsies and their existence wouldn’t be commonly known of outside Ireland, Great Britain and the United States.

In “Leaving the Road”, photographer Dragan Tomas, focuses on a community of Irish Travellers who live part-time on the north side of Cork City in southern Ireland. In this work, Dragan endeavors to express his deep passion for his subjects and brings to light the essence of what makes them unique as a people. Capturing the sense of the physicality and spirituality common to Travellers, the photographs also provide links, revealing deeper human connections common within all communities. Dragan strives to explore this culture in deeply personal ways that are visually powerful and yet their enduring moments being so elusive to capture.

While creating “Leaving the Road”, Dragan was surprised at how this experience affected him on a deeper level. He found himself seduced by these illusive people, pulled in by an inexplicable sense of belonging, a feeling of deep kinship with the communal, impulsive, deeply humanistic way of living led by the Travellers. Each time he crossed the bridge from the Travellers world back to his own life, he found himself overwhelmed, pulled to stay and not return to the ‘settled community’. ”Leaving the Road” illustrates the complexities of this unique and vibrant community, wild and roaming, yet also passionate, immediate and proud.