Camera Club, Photography

Fellowship Panel

September 25, 2016

The Irish Photographic Federation (IPF) run a distinctions program with three levels – licentiate, associate and fellowship.  Over the years I’ve applied for and successfully completed the first two stages and this year applied for my fellowship.  The process involves submitting a panel of images and a statement of intent. The judging, by a distinguished panel of judges happened and I’m delighted to say that I was successful. For more information on the IPFs distinctions process, see this link http://irishphoto.ie/distinctions/ The panel, based on a village in Nepal is: Link to larger version https://goo.gl/Jy2bce

Statement of intent

After many years travelling across Asia, I was privileged to be given the opportunity to stay in a small village in Nepal earlier this year. The village of Dharamnager is 170km from Kathmandu but decades behind. Dark nights with no electricity or running water, harsh sunlight, mud & brick huts in dark shadow, extreme heat and extreme humidity made the conditions challenging. To immerse myself in the life of the village, I stayed with a family in very simple accommodation. The warmth and generosity was extraordinary and for a lot of the people, I was the first westerner they had ever seen. My goal was to capture the people and their lives as reflected in their environment, faces, character and emotions – young and old – at work and at play. My approach was to get up close with a wide angle lens and make a strong connection with the subject. I have chosen a monochrome medium to remove distractions and focus on texture and contrast. Young men were in scarce supply with most of them working in the middle east or Kathmandu. However, a certain happiness shines through, especially in the children. People had time to talk with me – no rush and no phones!