Kathy Raftery

Fireside Beauty Parlour, 2024

Photograph | Unframed: 25.5 x 20 cm

‘Josephine, now in her nineties, sits in her living room with her niece-in-law Noreen, styling her hair, something she can no longer travel to the hairdresser for. A simple act signifying love, care, and vulnerability. Josephine is great fun, with a sparkle in her eye and a mischievous sense of humour. We met in 2018, whilst I was researching a documentary. Each visit feels like a thread between past and present, and I’m so grateful our paths crossed.’ - Kathy Raftery.

Kathy Raftery is a film maker from County Roscommon with an MA in Film Production and Screen Culture from University College Dublin. Her films, whether portraits of individuals or landscapes, focus on small, delicate details, things that accumulate as one begins to notice them and can amount to something quietly moving. She creates work that invites viewers to stop and look more closely at the world and the remarkable people in it. Her short documentaries have screened at film festivals and galleries nationally and internationally. Supported by Screen Ireland and the Western Region Audiovisual Producers (WRAP) Fund, she is currently developing her debut feature documentary.

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