From February 2010, I will be teaching an Introductory Course in Documentary Photography at the Gallery of Photography in Dublin. Courses for February and March are sold out but we will try to do more later in the year as there has been quite a demand for places. Being in the business for over ten years, it's exciting now to be in a position to pass on some of my knowledge and experience as a working photographer in the field, to share some of the crazy stories the scary situations and hopefully be an inspiration to others who have an idea for a photo story or a dream to be a documentary photographer.
We shot this short documentary last August in rural Mozambique. It follows a day in the life of the Antonio family whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS We entered it into some film festivals really just hoping it would get screened somewhere, anywhere. We're glad to say it did get screened and it also won the best documentary award at the Fastnet Short Film Festival which was held in Schull, West Cork last May. It's a great beginning to what I am hoping will be a new multimedia adventure. Thanks to the Simon Cumbers Media Challenge fund for their support.
"The picture speaks of mid 20th century rural Ireland: the old-fashioned stove and the turf box beside it; the reupholstered Cavan chair; even the co-op calendar on the roughcast wall. All's missing is the votive light beneath the picture of Our Lady. The sitter has put on his good suit to have his picture taken. Except that the photograph was taken by Dublin Freelance Photographer Kim Haughton on March 13th 2009"This is the opening quote from a recent Sunday Independent article by journalist Jim Cusack about the photograph (above) of founder of Republican Sinn Fein, Ruairi O' Bradaigh. It's always interesting to hear other people's descriptions of your photographs.
Back in March, while Michael Jackson was in London announcing his "This Is It" comeback gigs, Newbridge Silverware somehow managed to get a major scoop. The Kildare based company held the World exclusive Michael Jackson auction preview at the Museum of Style Icons. Rumour had it that thousands of devoted fans would roll into town. Jackson himself would secretly jet across the Irish sea to take a final look at his precious things. We hoped. We waited. Jackson didn't show up of course, neither did his fans and the auction, scheduled to happen in LA at the end of April, didn't.
On 30th May, my friend Alice McLoughlin died in her sleep at home in Dublin. I first met Alice in 1994 when, as a young student photographer, I shot my first photo story in Fatima Mansions. Alice was outside her flat cleaning the windows while her mother Kitty sat on the wall smoking cigarette after cigarette. In 2006, Alice featured in Farewell Fatima, a documentary I made with Filmbase about returning to Fatima and reconnecting with some of the people in the old photographs.
