CO Tyrone photographer Jason Mc Cartan, whose haunting exhibition of abandoned homes and the items left behind in them is on at An Creagan visitor centre in the Sperrins at the minute, traces his interest in his subject matter to his youth in the 1980s and 'replacement dwelling schemes'.
"I noticed many old farmhouses and country cottages were being demolished to make way for new-builds. I realised then that Ireland was losing a part of it's history and the likes of many of these homes would never be seen again," the Carrickmore native says.
Fast forward to a couple of years ago when Jason began a two-year photography course at North West Institute in Derry, which enabled him to bring his long-held passion for photography to life.
"I have always photographed old houses and this brought me in a direction for my end-of-year picture project. I began to enter the houses, intrigued to know what was left, and why," says Jason (41), who admits his hobby "may now be an obsession".
"Some of these houses still had shoes, beds, kettles, cups, jackets hanging up etc. This intrigued me and left me wondering why was the house left like this? What were the circumstances? Who were the people?"
It is these questions, as Jason says, that add to the mystery and undeniable appeal of this photographs.
:: Abandoned Tyrone by Jason Mc Cartan, An Creagan, until October 30. See Jason Mc Cartan Photography on Facebook; @jasmccartan.
