Snappy happy as Mark wins March accolade
The latest Cork Person of the Month award is in recognition of a man’s achievements in press photography and his ability to capture the essence of the human experience through his lens.
This award follows Mark Condren winning of the AIB Press Photographer of the Year award for a record-breaking seventh time.
A native of Castletownroche, his work has become a staple of Irish visual storytelling.
The judging panel for his recent Photographer of the Year win praised his work as “iconic”, noting that his ability to capture “human suffering and human joy elevate the work of this press photographer beyond the immediate and the graphic”. His portfolio spans a vast emotional spectrum, from the intimate to the global, reflecting on a contemporary world often defined by chaos and change.
Notable works cited during his recent recognition include a striking portrait of actor Patrick Bergin at his home in Tipperary, and a poignant image of Ibtisam, a Palestinian mother evacuated from Gaza to Dublin. Condren also famously captured the raw emotion of political history with his image of Catherine Connolly embracing her campaign manager, Danny Callanan, following her election as President in October.
Mark’s career is also distinguished by his production of a best-selling photography book, ‘The Guards’. This collection of photographs of the gardaí at work was published in 2011 and sold out within weeks of publication. More recently, he published ‘NYPD, Behind the scenes with the Men and Women of the New York City Police Department’.
His photography has taken him across the world, including famines in Ethiopia and South Sudan, the aftermath of earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal, and war zones in Syria, the Gaza Strip, and Western Sahara.
Awards Organiser Manus O’Callaghan said: “Mark is a master of his craft. He has an incredible gift for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary and the humanity in the headlines. His seven Photographer of the Year awards are a testament to his talent, and this Cork Person of the Month award is a testament to the pride his home county takes in his achievements.”
Mark Condren’s name will now go forward for possible selection as Cork Person of the Year.