ALMOST MADE
THIS PLACE MY OWN

Visions of America 1978–1979

Eamon Carr

“But, let me tell you, there’s so much more in Eamon Carr’s collection of photos. There seems a recognition of the strangeness of things: skeletal trees in the snow and, glimpsed briefly from windows, vistas like lunar landscapes. The angled rails of a car park are juxtaposed with a deserted, empty trapezoid swimming pool. Behind the giant soup tureens in a restaurant, the stainless-steel throws psychedelic shapes. Night time falls and a semi-circle of paper-vending machines gather, like a cabal of tubby robots … This, without a word of a lie, is a great trip.”

From the foreword by Wendy Erskine

“With greater clarity than anything I might have written, the camera showed me how I’d miscalculated. An unreal heart and smoke-smog eyes count for little. Cold, light-sensitive emulsion showed that, much as I loved America, and dazzling, intoxicating or noble the ideal, the childhood dream was unsustainable.”

From the introduction by Eamon Carr

Almost Made This Place My Own is a richly atmospheric body of work offering an unusual and deeply personal perspective on life in the United States during the late 1970s. Moving between intimacy and distance, Carr documents both the mythology and mundanity of America with an observant, poetic eye.

EAMON CARR

Carr is best known as a founder member, lyricist and drummer of Horslips, the pioneering Irish folk-rock group whose most recent release is More Than You Can Chew, a 33-album box set retrospective. Alongside his music career, Carr has worked extensively as a journalist, art historian and author. His published works include The Origami Crow: Journey into Japan World Cup Summer 2002 (2008), Deirdre Unforgiven (2013), Foundation Song (2023), Showbusiness With Blood (2025) and Pure Gold (2025). His verse plays include DUSK (2016) and Cú Chulainn Awakes (2020). He is also a widely published commentator on culture, the arts and sport.

Author: Eamon Carr
Foreword: Wendy Erskine
ISBN: 978-1-917445-02-3
Format: Hardback, 176 x 245mm, portrait, 150 Arctic Volume White
Extent: 88 pages
Edition: 500 copies
Weight: .5kg
Published: June 2026
Design: Niall McCormack