Feast FAM loan: Loading Cattle, Aran, from the portfolio Ireland

Paul Quain (Irish)
Loading Cattle, Aran, from the portfolio Ireland, 1980

gelatin silver print on mat board
Jude Peterson Collection, 2009.14.205
9 ⅛” x 6 3/16”

The topography of the Aran Islands present unique challenges to raising livestock. Though the cattle are out all year round, there’s no silage or forage on the islands aside from imported hay. When it comes time to transport cattle to the mainland, they must be lifted (as photographed here) into containers on shipping barges.