A vivid early-morning photograph of a beach on Donegal’s Fanad Head was announced today (Monday, 20th June 2011) as the winner of this year’s GoIreland.com Photography Awards, an international amateur tourist photography competition that highlights Ireland and its tourism qualities using a different theme each year.
Organised by Gulliver Ireland, the cost effective provider of reservations and tourism information, the competition’s search for new Irish iconic images, which are held in association with John Hinde Ireland, was also launched.
The winning photograph entitled ‘Ice Age’ was taken by Martin Marcisovsky, a Slovakian living in Ireland, at a beach on Fanad Head. The picture features frozen water, ice and snow in the foreground while its focal point is a tree trunk. Fanad Head, site of the well-known lighthouse that was first lit on St. Patrick’s Day 1817, lies on Ireland’s northwestern coast.
Themed ‘An Eye for Ireland’, entrants were challenged to capture a unique and personal view of Ireland. The judging panel received thousands of photographic entries from Irish and visiting tourists. Polish, British, Indian and New Zealand photographers living in Ireland, a UK tourist as well as Clare, Dublin and Tipperary photographers were among the 11 runners-up.
Their photographs featured images of Cavan’s Lough Ramor, Dublin’s North Wall Quays and Skerries Harbour, Tipperary’s Cashel Abbey, Waterford’s Dungarvan Harbour and Abbeyside and the Wicklow Mountains. Images entitled ‘Solo, Co Kerry’, ‘Autumn Reflections, Co Wexford’ and ‘Autumn from the Air’ taken in Co Meath also featured. The winning collection can be viewed at http://www.goireland.com/photos.htm
Launching the awards, the seventh year of the competition, the judging panel that includes renowned photographer and entrepreneur, Jerry Kennelly, invited Irish holidaymakers and visiting tourists to submit photographs that capture Ireland’s unique and beautiful landscape using the theme ‘Ireland’s Hidden Gems’.
Entrants are encouraged to use John Hinde’s series of famous postcards and iconic images of Ireland years ago as inspiration.
The overall winner will receive an award-winning Olympus E-PL1 digital camera and the top 12 photographs will be reproduced as an original John Hinde calendar.
Further details are available at http://www.goireland.com/photos.htm. The closing date for entries is Friday, 16th December 2011 at 3pm
Speaking at the announcement, Lisa Fitzpatrick, Gulliver Ireland’s Marketing Manager, said, “It is heartening to see that visitors and Irish-based photographers continue to capture such a wide range of imaginative images of Ireland. The ‘Eye for Ireland’ theme inspired so many tourists to share their pictorial take on Ireland and we applaud their creativity and energy. Martin Marcisovsky’s winning photograph is a fantastic example of what awaits visiting and domestic tourists when they holiday in Ireland.”
Cormac Leonard, Commercial Director of John Hinde Ireland, said, “John Hinde Ireland is delighted to be associated with the GoIreland.com photographic competition for seven years now and congratulates this year’s winners. These images reaffirm all that is positive about Ireland today.”
For further information, please contact:
Barry Ahern, Business Management Communications
Telephone: (01) 4830832/ (087) 6683574
E-mail: barry.ahern@bmcomms.ie