Magdalen Laundries

Today has been spent looking at footage of the Good Shepherd Convent, with the rain belting down on my skylight it's not hard to imagine being there now. After filming the place in September, I sat in my car for twenty minutes waiting for the waves of nausea to pass. Photographing the site had a profound affect and left me more committed to seeing these places turned into museums, so no one can have the luxury of forgetting what was done to so many women.

I am slowly and laboriously compiling the section of my film that will discuss the laundries. This involves listening to my interviews, cutting the video and looking closer at the images I took in September. It's incredible to me how much emotion the footage conveys, perhaps it's only because I was there and remember how disturbing the very air was around that massive institution. 

As I look closely at these pans and tilts I notice each time the image is unsteady and I know my grasp on the camera faltered. I recall how it was hard to breathe in that place never mind hold the camera. I was only a visitor there for an hour. How was it to fill your 24 hours there? years, a lifetime? For the estimated 30,000 women who were incarcerated in the laundries that was a reality we will never understand.

The following sites are excellent resources on the Magdalen Laundries in Ireland. I encourage anyone to visit them.

http://www.magdalenelaundries.com/index.htm

http://www.netreach.net/~steed/magdalen.html
 
There is new pressure from the EU for the nuns to release the census information. To sign an online petition please follow this link.

http://www.magdalenelaundries.com/index.htm

I will post a clip about the laundries within the week. Thank you for reading and as always your comments and feedback are appreciated.