Northern Ireland Derry Bogside Murals Black And White Urban Street Art Moody Documentary Wall Art

This photograph was made in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, where large-scale murals dominate the ends of residential buildings and quietly hold decades of political memory. The scene shows two opposing gable walls, each bearing stark black-and-white murals that speak directly to conflict, protest, and lived history. The buildings themselves are ordinary social housing, which only amplifies the weight of the artwork painted onto them. These are not decorative murals; they are statements rooted in place.

The light was flat and overcast, a sky heavy with cloud that stripped the scene of warmth and colour. That lack of contrast felt appropriate. The muted tones allow the murals to take visual priority, their figures emerging clearly against the pale brick facades. Road signs, railings, trimmed hedges, and quiet pavement lines sit in the foreground, grounding the image firmly in everyday life. This is a neighbourhood where history is not confined to museums—it sits on the walls people walk past daily.

What makes this image matter is the way it balances restraint with emotional force. Nothing dramatic is staged—no crowds, no motion, no spectacle. Instead, the power comes from stillness. The murals face each other across the street, separated by distance but connected by shared meaning. Photographing them from this perspective preserves that tension, allowing the viewer to take in both sides without being pushed toward a single conclusion.

I created this photograph on location while walking through Derry, shortly after revisiting the events surrounding Bloody Sunday. Being present in this place mattered. The scale of the murals, the quiet of the street, and the atmosphere of the neighbourhood cannot be translated from secondhand sources.

I personally sign each print and include a certificate of authenticity, confirming that this is a real photograph captured from lived experience.

If this sense of place and history resonates with you, you may also be drawn to Derry, Northern Ireland, Urban Wall Art.

© Dan Kosmayer, 2019