In March 2010 I photographed some cityscapes in Dublin. There's great light at this time of year, both at sunrise and sunset.
Trócaire in Rwanda
In February 2010 I travelled to Rwanda with Trócaire to take photographs for their 2010 Lenten campaign, which focused on hunger. I was amazed at how much the country had progressed since the terrible genocide of 1994. While poverty is still a major issue there, most of the racial hatred that led to the genocide seems to have gone, and it is also one of the least corrupt countries in Africa. It's hard to believe that it's only 16 years since the atrocity which claimed the lives of up to 1 million innocent lives. The people are warm, friendly, and well educated, and the lush, undulating landscape gives rise to it's nickname as the Land of a Thousand Hills.
Real Madrid
I photographed Real Madrid's pre-season training in Carton House, Co. Kildare, for Platinum One Group. This was a great experience, as I am a big soccer fan, and to see players like Raúl, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema play and train every day was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was pretty nervous when I had to set up and shoot a team photo- knowing that these players were worth 350 million euros- but it went well and even got most of them to smile. My favourite photographs however are the ones taken of Heinze and Pepe, when they found a Ronaldo pin-up calendar which a fan had for Ronaldo to sign.
West Bank Protest March
In January 2009 I went to Palestine with journalist Tom Rowe. We were making a project about how Israel controls the drilling and supply of water within the West Bank. As part of this project, we went to a protest match in the border town of Ni'lin in the West Bank. The locals were protesting about the building of an illegal wall, the Israeli West Bank barrier, through their land. The protest march had been taking place for months- every Friday after morning prayers. There was great tension, as one week earlier 2 young stone-throwers were shot dead here by Israeli forces. You can see their graves in some of the photos. Tom and I had to walk through fields with a complete stranger to avoid an Israeli checkpoint, as the Israelis did not want Westerners in Ni'lin. After the march, many young Palestinian men traded stones from their sling-shots with tear-gas and then live rounds from the Israeli army. I photographed one man as he was carried away by others after he was shot in the leg. I was then hit by a tear gas canister. It hit the ground in front of me, and then bounced up at me and luckily hit the shoulder-strap of my camera bag. It went off in my face and I ran for cover where locals helped me by giving me perfume to inhale to stop the tears. It was the most unbelievable experience of my life- a complete rush of adrenaline, excitement, fear, and anger.
Burmese Refugees in Northern Thailand
I travelled to Northern Thailand with Trócaire to work on their 2009 Lenten campaign, which focused on displacement. I had not known much about the plight of Burmese refugees before this, and was shocked by what I learned. The military dictatorship in Burma make it impossible for many minorities to live there, and tens of thousands have been fleeing across the border into Thailand over the past 50 years. Many Burmese refugees only realize the extent of the problems in Burma when they reach Thailand, as that is the first time they have access to free media and education.
Trócaire's website is www.trocaire.org
Powers
This was a photoshoot for Powers whiskey, for use in press ads and billboards. The brief from the advertising agency, McConnells, was for a natual look- and I think we achieved that. I used my cousin and three friends from my football team as the models, and used natural light as much as possible, just supplemented by reflectors and a little artificial light.
Art direction by Tom O'Haire and styled by Siobhan O'Donovan.
Walton's New School of Music
I photographed the various music classes for a new website for Walton's New School of Music on George's St., Dublin 2. This was a very challenging job, as I had just 30 minutes to photograph each class and try to find interesting compositions and to show what was happening in each lesson. I used flash to supplement the natural light, but did so such a way to make it look as natural as possible. I enjoyed this job as there was so much variety of classes, people and instruments, and you can see that both students and teachers are passionate about their music.
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