FOR the third year in a row Clare Champion photographer John Kelly has won the Local Ireland Media Award for Best Photograph of the Year.
It’s a huge achievement for the talented Mullagh man who has for many years been known as one of Ireland’s best press photographers.
Speaking about the image that won him the 2022 honour, he said it was taken in Doolin on a wintry evening as he awaited a subject.
“The picture was actually taken while I was in Doolin one stormy evening. I was waiting for somebody to turn up to another job. As I was waiting I saw the waves were very big, so I went out and shot the waves and the sunset.”
He says that the best photographs are often found by chance. “It’s in the little gaps of doing the ordinary work of the day that you see the extraordinary and those opportunities come along, in my experience.”
Ray Ryan of the Tuam Herald and Joe O’Shaughnessy of the Connacht Tribune were also shortlisted for the award, two photographers that John is very friendly with.
In a world where images are now far more easily produced and distributed than was the case in earlier decades, John feels that professional photography is particularly important.
“You don’t know what’s fake and what’s not now on social media, but when you’re dealing with a bona fide photojournalist at least you know there’s an ethical standard, when you’re talking about news photography. That was never needed more than it is now.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.