Photographic exhibition The Ocean Within staged on Portrush's Ramore Avenue
A photographic exhibition called The Ocean Within has opened as part of the Belfast Photo Festival – and the images have been placed on Portrush’s Ramore Avenue.
As part of the 2025 Belfast Photo Festival, five photographers collaborated with conservation groups and local communities across Northern Ireland to visualise the fragility and beauty of our natural heritage.
The Ocean Within by Yvette Monahan explores the hidden roles of fish as biological timekeepers and storytellers, embodying a collective memory of the water world.
Printed onto two-metre-wide panels and installed at Donegal Quays in Belfast and Ramore Avenue in Portrush, these conceptual images delve into the rich and diverse dimensions of fish senses, bringing to light what often remains hidden: lived experience and how nature captures truths beyond human perception.
The photographer said: “Fish possess an incredible ability to create and follow a map guided by instinctual knowledge. They navigate through the world using magnetic fields and respond to unseen frequencies, forging a profound connection between their biology and the forces of the planet.”
One of the most striking images in the exhibition is that of Otoliths, or ear stones, which, much like tree rings, serve as living records of their lives. Each layer encodes the fish's journeys, revealing the duration of their existence and the experiences that have shaped them.
Until June 30, the festival is animating public spaces in Belfast and beyond with exhibitions from a host of local and international visual artists, alongside a programme of partner exhibitions, talks, workshops, and screenings.
For more information, visit www.belfastphotofestival.com