After the success of her Twilight Together series, photographer, Ruth Medjber, is back with her latest stroke of creative genius. We caught up with the Dublin native to talk about her new project Sin Scéal Eile, the beauty of storytelling and the importance of archiving our history.
Having spent her formative years perched in the passenger’s seat of her father’s van, the art of photography came rapping at Ruth’s door early in life. “My dad was a travelling salesman for camera stores. Instead of going to a babysitter I’d go with Dad to shops like John Gunn’s,” Ruth recalls. After being gifted a small plastic camera as a kid, it wasn’t until her teenage years and the discovery of music she realised this pastime could become a profession.
“I started doing MC at these gigs called ‘Blast Gigs’. They were like for kids-by-kids kind of thing. It was there I encountered a music photographer called Roger Wollman. I saw him and really cheekily I was like ‘what are you doing?’ He told me he was a music photographer and my mind was blown. I was like ‘Oh my God, that’s a job? I can do that?’ So, then I made it my be all and end all to become a music photographer.”
Despite having completed a four-year degree in photography, Ruth maintains academia wasn’t for her. It was tenacity, persistence and a little bit of bullying that that got her to where she is today. “I ended up failing every single year and having to do re-sits,” she laughs. “But I really wanted to get my start and somewhat bullied my way into Hot Press Magazine where I freelanced for a few years.”
No stranger to the grind, Medjber also ran her own blog Ruthless Imagery and would often wander into rehearsal spaces or band hang outs to offer her camera up. Soon Ruthless Imagery was the name on everyone’s lips and artists like Arcade Fire and Hozier took pride of place in Ruth’s catalogue and a role in NME Ireland flung open doors far and wide.
“One day the BBC called me out of the blue and asked if I wanted to join their Glastonbury team,” she recollects. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would have been a Glastonbury photographer – that was for elite music photographers!” After securing her pass for the Pyramid Stage she knew she had set out what she wanted to achieve, that little passenger in her father’s van was ready to turn her lens to other things.
Not immune to boredom, Medjber maintains she needs variety to keep herself sane. After curating the Twilight Together series, where she photographed people through their windows (consensually of course!) during the pandemic of 2020, documentary portraiture was the pivot she needed.
“That series made me aware that I was so into hearing people’s stories,” she tells us. “Seeing the impact that book had on people – they were so proud to be in it. It was a real archive of the time that I was helping to leave behind for further generations to understand what it was like to live in Ireland in 2020.”
Having been bitten by the story telling bug, Medjber knew these kinds of stories were to be the most significant she would ever shoot. She made it her mission to continue this anthropological path. “The most important photographs I ever take are not the ones that end up in Time’s Square or on billboards. They’re the ones that end up on people’s mantelpieces. To create something that someone cherishes is really an honour,” she says modestly.
This segue into documentary portraiture has taken on a new life in the form of her latest project Sin Scéal Eile. Initially called the Seanchaí Series, she settled on Sin Scéal Eile – translated into English as ‘that’s another story.’ The series is just that. Medjber and her team are taking to the road for this venture, travelling the length and breadth of Ireland to interview one person a day in all 32 counties and inhabited islands. Portraits are shot by Ruth herself, with Ronan Lally on sound and producer Dee Reddy turning each story into a podcast daily. The task at hand is no mean feat.
“Logistically it’s bonkers. Ronan and I are working on this while still doing our full-time jobs. So, it’s quite difficult in that regard. But what we’re both really living off is people’s energy. People are so excited to be in it and they are so determined – they’re great and their stories are amazing,” Ruth tells us, peppered with excitement.
Although it may seem like it cropped up on our newsfeeds overnight, the genesis of the idea has been a long-time ruminating and Ruth maintains that projects like these needs divine timing. “Ideas come to me at least four to six years before I act on them – which is very strange to say out loud,” she laughs. “I found a scrap piece of paper at home the other day for the idea. It was written three of four years ago! Ideas are there you just have to be ready to act upon them.”
Inspired by a combination of her love for Irish people married with a keen interest in data, Ruth wants this project to function as an archival snapshot into Ireland in 2026. “Someone once asked me what was my favourite thing about Ireland and my honest answer? The people. This project is a way to celebrate the people,” she beams.
Not limited to Irish people, Sin Scéal Eile is open to anyone who calls Ireland home in 2026 – a vital stipulation for this labour of love. Using information from the Central Statistics Office, Ruth and her team are ensuring this project is an accurate portrayal of life in Ireland right now. “365 people spread across various demographics – every type of person imaginable. We’re using the information available to tell us how many Black Irish people there are, how many Arabs, how many Muslims there are, how many people live in Leitrim. We’re looking at those demographics and then we’re dividing up the applicants very fairly.”
With the 1926 Irish census about to be available to the public, the first census completed in Ireland since the island became a free state, Ruth wants this project to be her contribution to our society’s records. “I want to have this as a record for everyone who is alive in 2026, so that it can act as a time capsule. Hopefully, it will give people in 20 or 50 years the same type of excitement that I’m getting from the thoughts of this census. I think archiving is a hugely important thing to do,” she says buoyantly.
Ruth maintains that this series does not belong to her, but to the public – to the people of Ireland and to the people who are sharing their stories on this platform. A wealth of anecdotes, testaments, triumphs and truths – whatever moniker fits, there is no shortage of tales to tell. “What I’m finding is people have their own reasons for being involved, we’re getting surprised as we go,” she marvels. “People are coming and saying ‘I just want to be counted. I’m a woman of a certain age and I feel like I don’t get acknowledged.’”
Some stories come as cautionary tales, with people sharing cancer diagnoses in the hopes of helping others. Others want to memorialise loved ones that have passed, to have a record of that person’s existence somewhere. “That’s keeping us going,” Ruth says with a loving determination. “That’s put the fuel in the tank a bit because it’s a hard project. You’re taking on board people’s stories; there’s a lot to listen to and it can be quite overwhelming.”
Despite having self-confessed tunnel vision when working on any given project, Medjber is hoping to return Sin Scéal Eile to where it belongs in 2027 – back to the masses. With hopes for a huge public exhibition, Ruth wants the project to be completely accessible. “I know a lot of people are nervous in galleries, so I want it to be somewhere where everyone is comfortable. I want it public because it belongs to the public,” she insists.
But the project will not be limited to this exhibition or to the ongoing podcast currently being produced. Ruth has her eye set on a variety of mediums. “I want to release it as a book. Then Elaine May, a fabulous producer and musician, is going to curate a soundscape that will go on a vinyl using all the vocals and foley sounds that Ronan has been recording. They’re going to do a beautiful soundscape.”
What’s next for Ruth remains unknown – even to herself, but one thing is certain the completion of this project. “I’ll always shoot people for the rest of my days. Genuine people,” she vows. “I am going to celebrate this for sure if we get to the end of it. But this work isn’t mine. It’s everybody’s. There’s going to be 365 people in this book and it’s their’s as much as it is mine. If they’re proud of it and happy to be in it, then it’s a success.”
Words: Rebecca Reilly
You can find out more about the project and keep up with the daily storytelling at sinscealeile.com
