I was lucky to be able to participate in an annual Dublin event known as “People’s Photography” over the weekend. Its where local photographers from around the country get to display their images on the fences of St Stephen’s Green. It has also become an annual social event for the photographer community in Boards.ie and Twitter; These are the places where I have made many great friends over the years; thanks to our common interest; and it is always really lovely to see everyone displaying their work at the event (not to mention a few social drinks after it too).

I used this selection from my “Keep Passing the Open Windows” project (see the Photo Galleries) as the basis of my display -

I have to admit to being really pleased with how the weekend went … No I didn’t sell a single image; but at the same time I received a lot of compliments about the images I had on display (and a few people even took the time to write me an email) … most of the compliments came from other photographers which I found particularly encouraging.

Overall the event passed off as a success; despite occasional intervals of rain. On the Sunday we also held another event called Streetfeast (see streetfeast.ie) where everyone got into the spirit of community by participating in a street picnic of all sorts of home cooked delights … we even managed to coax a few passers by to join in the party spirit.

As regards highlights of the other photography on display … I’ll start with a small negative and end the blog on the high note …

People’s Photography is one of those events where one sees a lot a typical “Camera Club” type images (amongst my circle of photogeek friends we often jokingly refer to this as a phenomenon of inflatable foreground rocks and HDR swans). Most typical and indeed most prominent is the landscape and wildlife photo of which there were a great many on show; sadly very little of any real unique distinction. Landscape photography for me is something which I find deeply enjoyable. But I find it difficult and challenging to create images of any real note. Despite all of this I still love the process of landscape capture, it is the most meditative form of photography. I don’t envy the landscapers who displayed at People Photography, it is perhaps the most difficult of genre’s in which to truly stand out. Most of the images on display (particular along the more busy Grafton St section of the event) didn’t  stimulate the visual cortex quite so much as being able to also feel the caress of the wind and smell the aroma of the air at the original scene of the photograph.

Oddly, the real unique highlights of the weekend were on display in the least prominent areas of the event. I’m not sure if this was something the organisers did by design (in a effort to appeal to the masses) of simple a function of luck of the draw. But for me they missed the point and in the process the best of unique photographic talent was not really given a fair hearing.

For me there we three particular highlights about which I want to make a special mention (at the risk of offending some of my friends, which is definitely not my intention).

The first is less about photography (although the images on display were most original and very entertaining) and more about a great idea … I’ll be making a special separate blog just for this … this is the work of Darren Carr and his wife Susie for Woollycats.

The other two are similar in that both photographers had cyanotype images on display. My friend Sinéad McDonald had a wonderful display of these images as well as some lovely smaller fridge magnets made from other photographic techniques. It is difficult to stand out from the pack at events like these but Sinéad did a good job and doing so in the best possible way. She has really blossomed into a talented photographer over the years with a few good projects to her name at this stage and I look forward to seeing more … For more of her work see – Sinéad’s site

For me however the highlight of the entire event was hidden away at the far reaches of St Stephen’s Green away from the prying eyes of the tourists, the landscapes, the tacky nudes and the HDR swans. This was the display by Monika Fabijanczyk (see Monika’s site). She also had a wonderful collection of original Cyanotypes on show. But perhaps what really caught my eye the most were her prints on glass plates. These were truly inspirational in both their form and their content. Printed glass plates, as a medium, give a wonderful three dimensional quality to the prints. This results in a more life like image than with any standard printing technique. The images appear to leap off the medium right before your very eyes. Portraits have a ghostly reality to them. Monika has also done a wonderful job on selecting, composing and capturing the perfect content to show in this medium. In doing so she has managed to come up with a body of work which was both unique and inspiring. Her work stood head and shoulders above the rest of us in demonstrating the essence of what many of us are continually striving to do – being original.

I was trying to think of some text to accompany these portraits … but to be honest, they speak for themselves. Most were taken at the Kongowea Primary school in Kenya. Some at the Maweni school. These are two schools supported by Suas … we are hoping to help them get an ICT lab together for use in teaching the children.

[View with PicLens]

Both need support and here is a link to where you can provide it – Maweni & Kongowea

For weeks before the trip I had tried everything to convince myself that it would be a complete waste of time and energy … and it was working! If it were not for my commitment to my travel companion Philip Sharpe I’d have cancelled the entire trip!

But on the way to the airport at 5am the morning of the flight to Nairobi I was given an odd reminder by a Dublin taxi driver (of all people) as to why I do these trips … the dialogue goes a bit like this -

Taxi Driver: “…yer man Rory McIlroy has done well for himself …”

Me: “yeah … some turnaround from the Masters”

Taxi Driver: “Yep … he went to Haiti after the Masters … to put his life in context…”

Me: “Really!?”

Suddenly it all comes back to me and I am awoken to my motives … we take a lot for granted here in the West … sometimes we need to get a bit of proper perspective … Kenya, and more specifically the Gatoto school in the Mukuru Kwa Reuben slum of Nairobi plays that very role for me … Betty, the principle, has a way of ensuring the magic of this oasis of hope in the midst of the surrounding squalor stays with you in your heart almost all the time (though to my shame I had lost it in the weeks before the trip!).

The following day, as our driver negotiated the mud soaked wasteland that serves as the entrance to the slum and the approach to the school gate, grey clouds seemed to part, giving way to a ray of beautiful sunshine. In the process a great weight was gradually lifted as my own life came back into perspective … for the first time in quite a few weeks, I allowed myself a genuine smile as I passed through the gates.

I named this web site for that wonderful moment … may I have many more!

Please support this project via a small contribution on the Suas Website

I managed to arrive in one of the driest places in in North America the day it was flooded … go figure!

This was taken on the long drive between CES Las Vegas and San Jose … but what a drive it was!!

If you look really closely at the image below you can see where sea level sits -

After picking my new toy up from a garage in Cambridge I decided to take it the long way home via the east and west coasts of Scotland. What a spectacular place to drive a nice car!

Here’s the car it replaced -

For some reason this is my most popular image in all of the photo sharing sites … Someone on pix.ie left the comment that it looked post apocalyptic … and I have to agree with them … hence the title.

In the foreground – Sandymount Beach … behind – Poolbeg Power Station … for the benefit of those that don’t already know.

Click here for a nicer view -

I had to post this image … which was taken as 5 separate images using a P&S camera what feels like a whole life ago …

Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile is one one of the most inspirational places on Earth. Its in the middle of one of the most beautiful regions I’ve ever seen … Patagonia which is the pointy part of South America where Chile and Argentina are diced in two by the Andes mountains …

In my case it was this place that really made me want to pick up a camera in an endless effort to capture “Perfect Moments” …

… the rest as they say … is history.

Gallery Version here (I hope you have a wide screen) -