Photographer from Nenagh scoops top prizes
A NENAGH based member of An Garda Síochána, who has a passion for photography, swept the boards in a prestigious competition.
Denis Ryan, a member of both the Killaloe Photography Group and the Limerick Camera Club, has been named winner of both the national and internation divisions of this year’s Du Noyer Photographic Competition.
His wonderful studies of geological landscapes in Ireland and Italy wowed the members of the judging panel in the competition, run by the Geological Survey Ireland in conjunction with the Irish Geological Association.
As these victories underline, Denis, who lives in Nenagh’s hinterland, is an amateur photographer who excels at his hobby.
One of his winning photographs features a scene from one of the best-known mountain groups in the Alps - the three distinctive battlement-like peaks situated in the Sextet Dolomites of northeastern Italy.
Another features a striking stone structure at Hags Head, on the Cliffs of Moher with the view of the Atlantic Ocean.
Asked about his latest awards, Denis told The Guardian: “I was shocked to have won in both sections of the competition. The organisers e-mailed me just over a month ago to say that I had been placed for an award.
“I went up for the prizegiving ceremony to the offices of the Geological Survey of Ireland in Dublin on Friday week last, and to my surprise I discovered that I won both the national and international sections of the competition.
“I was absolutely delighted, as it was a competition I had entered before on a couple of times and was never even placed.”
Denis said the competition was perfect for landscape photographers like himself, “because geology is everything we do in terms of composing our images and piecing our compositions together.”
He said it’s his love for photography itself as a hobby rather than trying to win competitions that gives him his buzz.
OTHER AWARDS
Denis is no stranger to coveted awards, being a former National Shield ‘Gold’ winner for in a competition staged for members of all the camera clubs in Ireland.
A native of Ballyferriter in West Kerry, but married locally and living outside Nenagh since 2006, Denis was also named Photographer of the Year by Limerick Camera Club just a few years ago.
Meanwhile, the Irish Photographic Federation awards distinctions on three levels - Licentiate, Associate and Fellow, in ascending order.
Denis has already successfully completed the former two and is now immersed in pursuing a Fellowship.
This is a major project that will take him up to three years to complete, and he has picked Lough Derg as his subject of choice. From what we can establish, there has never been a book or substantial body work on the photography of Derg, but now Denis is up for it and facing that challenge.
PROUD
Robert Fairfield, the head of the Killaloe Photography Group, said Denis was an incredibly talented photographer. “We are all very proud of the achievements of Denis and we congratulate him on winning the two top prizes in such a prestigious competition,” commented Robert.