Press photographers' exhibition for Ballina
Michael McLaughlin won first prize in the Portrait category of the Press Photographers Ireland competition for this wonderful image of Foxford's Ben Burke, who is often to be seen at Ballina Heritage Day. Picture: Michael McLaughlin
Ireland’s stories in images from 2024 will visit Mayo this month as the Press Photographers Ireland CLG annual exhibition will be on display in Ballina Library from July 8th to 26th.
The exhibition will be officially opened by Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary TD at a reception on Thursday, July 10th, at 7pm.
The exhibition features 110 images in total capturing life, both at home and abroad, during 2024 and showcasing the very best of Irish press photography. It also includes winning imagery from Mayo photographers, Conor McKeown, who picked up first prize in the Nature and the Environment category, and Michael McLaughlin, who won first prize in the Portrait category. Conor and Michael, who are both from Westport, are frequent contributors to the Western People and their success in winning awards in such a fiercely contested competition was a great endorsement of the work of regional press photographers.
The AIB Press Photographer of the Year Award 2025 was presented at a special ceremony in Dublin in February. James Crombie of Inpho Photography was awarded the overall title of AIB Press Photographer of the Year with his stunning portfolio of imagery. James' excellent work is well-known to readers of the Western People, especially his magnificent sports photography.
Commenting ahead of the exhibition’s arrival to Mayo, David Branigan, President of Press Photographers Ireland CLG, said: “We are delighted that our exhibition is visiting Ballina once again and we hope that visitors from the local area and beyond will enjoy browsing through the award-winning and highly acclaimed imagery which demonstrates the hard work and commitment of our Irish press photographers.”
The Press Photographers exhibition has been a part of the Ballina Festival programme for many years and the late Henry Wills worked tirelessly to promote the event, which was held in the local AIB branch for many years before moving to the library. Henry was a former president of Press Photographers Ireland CLG.
To view the full portfolio of winning and highly commended images from the AIB Press Photographer of Year Award 2025 please visit www.pressphotographers.ie
