International award for Corofin photographer

Corofin photographer, Kenneth O’Halloran has snapped up the top prize in a prestigious international competition.
Mr O’Halloran, who has received numerous national and international accolades for his work over the years, won first place in the Terry O’Neill/Tag Awards at the Hotshoe Gallery, London.
The Terry O’Neill Award is a contemporary international photographic competition founded in 2007 as a platform for new and upcoming talent. 
The award, based around the series and the narrative within it, is open to photographers over the age of 18 across a wide spectrum of genres including fine art, documentary and landscape photography.
Thanks to the support of TAG Creative, Hotshoe, The Sunday Times Spectrum Magazine, Remote New Media and Metro Imagin and all the photographers who have submitted their work over the past five years, the Terry O’Neill TAG Award has grown from a small online competition to one of the industry’s hottest prizes, bringing new photographers and their work to a wider audience.
The award was founded in honour of Terry O’Neill, one of the UK’s best-known photographers.
Mr O’Halloran won the award for his series, Fair Trade, exploring the vibrant, colourful world of Irish fairs.
“Documenting the lives of Travellers is not an original concept but O’Halloran’s work deserves much more scrutiny,” said Judge Colin Finlay from Hotshoe Gallery. “The nuances are much more subtle than at first they appear and the viewer is rewarded by taking time over the images. The girl with the freckles has a quizzical look, which goes beyond the obvious. The three girls are both provocative and slightly defensive. At first they look proud and confident but on second glance they are vulnerable and apprehensive. So it is the little things that O’Halloran has captured that make this a strong set of images and one that caused the judges to discus in greater depth during their deliberations.”
Kenneth said, “It is a great honour to be awarded first prize in the Terry O’Neill /Tag Award. I spent over two years travelling all over Ireland to fairs and festivals and met hundreds of amazing people, all of whom made the collection what it is.”
The photo essay included pictures taken at Spancilhill Fair, Cahirmee Fair in Cork, and Ballinasloe Horse Fair.
Terry O’Neill said of the award scheme,  “The breadth and depth of entries this year was truly inspirational – not only in their quality and quantity but also their diversity. Photographers from all corners of the globe entered a breath-taking range of images that were both provoking and insightful.”
“Thanks is due to our formidable judges, who battled it out in the judging room, and to all the judges over the past few years, who have contributed to this award to give it the integrity it holds.
“The judging process is hard, and it is the majority vote that brings the winners to the fore. Again, this year, the standard of entries was outstanding and some of the toughest decisions had to be made.”
Originally from Corofin, Mr O’Halloran is based in Dublin. He is currently working on a number of long-term projects, which include a personal portrayal of his family shot over five years.
His project Tales from the Promised Land was shortlisted for the Terry O’Neill Award 2010 and a portrait entitled Twins: Puck Fair was shown in The National Portrait Gallery in London, as part of the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2010.
He has recently received third prize in the Portrait Stories category of the World Press Photo awards and is also the recipient of the Focus Project Monthly Award (March 2011).
He received an honourable mention in the Art of Photography show San Diego 2011 and a portrait entitled Olive Selling Dresses has been selected for exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery (Taylor Wessing 2011).
He received an honourable mention in Lens Culture International Exposure Awards 2011 and was selected for Photolucida’s Critical Mass Top 50 of 2011 in the United States.