Happy snappy winners
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First in the Nature & the Environment category was ‘Murmuration’ by James Crombie/Inpho. The judges said it was the picture of the year: “A picture that makes you gasp is a rare thing so full credit to the photographer whose skill and patience rewarded him with the picture of a lifetime.” James Crombie also won Press Photographer of the Year at the award.Image 2 of 4
First in the Sports Action category was ‘Handle with Care’ by Eoin Noonan/Sportsfile. The judges said: “When you’re given the job of marking the world’s best footballer, you know it’s going to be a difficult night. However, this quite extraordinary moment is captured with split second timing by the photographer as Shane Duffy interacts with Cristiano Ronaldo while challenging for a header. The mark of great action sports photography, nailing the moment.”Image 3 of 4
First in the Sports Feature category was ‘Brilliant Bohs’ by Eoin Noonan/Sportsfile. The judges said: “It would be fair to say there is no shortage of pictures of footballers celebrating goals. Even so this image hits the back of the net. The sheer joy is infectious and the line of players behind the scorer gives the picture a wonderful balance and composition.” Eóin Noonan / SPORTSFILEImage 4 of 4
Line of Duty by Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision took the top spot in the Politics category. The judges said: “A deceptively brilliant image. The sheer ordinariness of the scene featuring An Taoiseach queuing for his jab amongst ordinary citizens gives this photograph a particular resonance in a pandemic year. Between the central composition, the expression on the subject’s face and the social distancing of the other people this is the perfect political picture from our pandemic year.” Meanwhile Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision won first place in the News category for ‘Knife Drawn’A recent press photography awards event saw photographers from all across Ireland honoured including many from Cork.
The photographers were recognised for excellence in press photography, during a year of many highs and lows.
It was the 44th annual Press Photographer of the Year Awards, run by the Press Photographers Association of Ireland.
Cork-based Provision took home two awards as did Sportfile’s Eoin Noonan who is from Cork.
The live awards ceremony was presented by broadcaster Miriam O’Callaghan and Paul Sherwood, President of the Press Photographers Association of Ireland.
The Press Photographer of the Year title was awarded, for the second year in a row, to James Crombie of Inpho Photography, whose portfolio the judges cited as “the outstanding portfolio of the awards”.
James received three category awards – first prize in Nature and the Environment, for what the judges coined as “picture of the year” called ‘Murmuration’ which beautifully captured a starling murmuration creating the shape of a bird over Lough Ennell.
He got third place in Daily Life and People for his image ‘Fishing’ taken on Lough Corrib, Galway and third place in Sports Feature for ‘Golden Moment’, a very emotional image of Kellie Harrington as she celebrated with her gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The awards, which were presented across ten categories, were opened with a special address by An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin and featured appearances by a host of other well-known personalities and stars including Emily O’Reilly, Neven Maguire, Robbie Henshaw, Eve McCrystal, Colm Stafford Johnson, Panti Bliss and Dearbhail McDonald.
An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin said: “The past year has seen the Irish people live through extraordinary times, with a sense of resilience and solidarity that we can be rightly proud of.
“The award-winning photographs celebrated today capture moments of great drama, joy, beauty, and all the rich diversity of life. I want to acknowledge the tremendous contribution that press photographers have made over the past year, and many years before that. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.”
Paul Sherwood, President of the Press Photographers Association of Ireland, said: “Despite another very challenging year for the association’s members as a result of the ongoing Covid situation, there was still an excellent level and quality of entries to this year's competition for our judges to select from. James Crombie, last year’s winner of the Press Photographer of the Year Award, has deservedly retained the title this year. His superb portfolio was topped off by his now iconic image of the starling murmuration over Lough Ennell. Congratulations go to James, the other category winners and all those members whose images make up the exhibition.”
Almost 1,400 images were submitted by 100 photographers for this year’s awards. The exhibition will go on tour to various libraries and venues throughout the year.
To view the winning images visit ppai.ie.