Founded in 2009, Meet Your Neighbours is a worldwide photographic initiative created by photographers Niall Benvie and Clay Bolt. The project is dedicated to reconnecting people with the wildlife on their own doorsteps, to the species that are often overlooked and undervalued and which are often seen as weeds or pests. Yet these creatures and plants are vital. They not only play important roles in their ecosystems, they also represent the first, and for some, the only contact with wild nature we have.

I had the pleasure to represent Ireland for this project and concentrated on the world of the intertidal zone plus some other plants and animals I came across around the house and in the garden.

All plants and animals were photographed in the wild using a field studio consisting of sheets of Perspex, tanks, various flashlights and tripods. None of my “models” were harmed and all were released back to where I had found them.