Oxfam Ad

On a cold and foggy Sunday morning in February we set out to the Wicklow Mountains to shoot an ad for Oxfam Ireland-

This is the final ad as it appeared on bus shelters around Dublin city. Blue skies and happy hikers!

The skies weren't so blue earlier in the day though ...

The team of hikers who were excellent 'models' for the day, and art director John Dwyer from Ask Direct.

The final ad also appeared on Liberty Hall, one of Ireland's tallest buildings.

Ireland Homeless World Cup team

This is a project for an group exhibition called InFocus, which helped raise awareness of and raise money for the homeless in Ireland.

I photographed a group of young Irish men who are preparing to travel to Paris to represent Ireland at the Homeless World Cup, from 21^st to 28^th August 2011. To qualify to play in this competition the players must have lived in emergency accommodation at some stage in the past year. These men are using sport as the positive catalyst they need to help get their lives back on track. They are an example to us all.

I met photographed the players and staff at a presentation ceremony in the Mansion House, and also at their training centre in Dublin city.

Murderous Pirate Scum

I took some photos of a few friends who play in a 5-a-side soccer league. Their team name is Murderous Pirate Scum and they had these jerseys designed incorporating the jolly roger. I used a Photoshop technique called the Dragan Effect to increase the dramatic effect of the portraits.

Tesco 1000

This shoot took place in Ardmore Studios, Bray, in March. I was taking stills photographs for an ad, which was used in-store, in press, on bus sides, bus shelters and billboards. There was a crew shooting it for a TV ads also, which made it a tricky shoot as you don't get as much time as you would like to set up. But it worked out well in the end.

I took some of these 'behind-the-scenes' photographs to show some of the production of the shoot. And the last 2 photographs, below, are of the final ad and how it looked on a bus in Dublin.

Art Direction by Dillon McKenna at McConnells.

Mozambique portraits

I photographed these members of an Emergency Response Association in the Govuro region of Mozambique. Each member of the association has a specific job to do in the case of a cyclone emergency. Trócaire work alongside local organizations to help educate and support local communities to deal with the threat of cyclones.

Natalia Barira Ndakambayi (45) and Joaquim Antonio Ngueta (30) with megaphones and a bicycle which are use to warn the local community of an imminent cyclone.

Mario Jasse Natal (39) with a kerosene lamp.

Adelaide Josel (22) and baby Altenina Jone with cards used to educate people about what to do in the event of flooding.

Joao Jeque (40) listens to a wireless radio, where local radio stations give up-to-date weather forecasts with cyclone warnings.

Gina Antonio Mandima (35), leader of the association, uses a machete cut back fallen trees and branches.

Katie Taylor, Imelda May & Graham Canty

I photographed Katie, Imelda and Graham in De Studio in Donnybrook. They were all taking part in a TV ad on the same day, so I did not have much time with each of them. It was a pleasure working with all of them. Katie is a hero of mine, and she's a really lovely and down-to-earth person. Imelda is an amazingly talented singer, and is a great character, absolutely crazy and super fun. I had photographed Graham before, and even though he captained Cork to an All-Ireland victory since the last time, he was still a true gent and a great ambassador for gaelic football.

The Search for Water in Kenya

I travelled to Kenya in November to take photographs for Trócaire's Christmas 2010 Global Gifts campaign. We visited the Enziu River in Maatini village, Kitui, which is about 100km east of the capital, Nairobi. As it was the dry season, people (mostly women) came here from miles around to fill jerrycans with water for their homes, and some to sell also. To get the water, they had to collect from a hole dug in the sandy river bed. I was amazed that, in these times of advanced technology, such primitive techniques are still being used by so many people to get what is most essential for our survival- water.

Water is one of the 9 life-saving Global Gifts, which you can get on Trócaire's website-

www.trocaire.org/globalgift

People gather to collect water at the dried-up Enziu River in Maatini village, Kitui, about 100km east of Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

Women collect water from a hole dug in the dry river bed. This is used as drinking water, as well as for other household and agricultural uses.

Raeli Kabubu carries 20 jerrycans per day, to her home, 2.5 km away, one at a time on her back. She sells 10 jerrycans and uses the rest for her homestead.

Nancy Nzilani Mbuvi is a mother of four. She walks 20km every day to get water.

Women help to load six 20-litre containers on Kamene Kalega's donkeys.

Kamene Kalega takes 4-5 one-hour trips with her donkeys, which can carry 6 cans per trip. She uses the water for her homestead and sells some also.

Curious local women look on.

A Kenyan woman begins another long walk carrying water to her home. During the dry season, a hole dug in the dried Enziu River bed is the only source of water for miles around.