About Me
My name is Bryan O’Brien and I’m a Dublin-based press photographer, working for The Irish Times newspaper.
After graduating from Dublin City University in 1985 I began my photographic career with The Longford Leader, a weekly paper in the Irish Midlands. I moved to the UK in 1988 to work for the London Post Group, but returned to Ireland in 1989 to work as a freelance press photographer. I subsequently became a staff photographer, first with the Irish Press Group and then Independent News and Media. In 1998 I joined the photography department at The Irish Times.
While I predominantly work within Ireland, I am occasionally sent on foreign assignment. In the past I have covered issues and stories in Sierra Leone, Chernobyl, India, Kosovo, the US, East Timor, and the Lebanon.
In 2007 I moved to Australia for eight months to work with the Sydney Morning Herald photographic department (and SMH.com.au) on an exchange programme.
As one of a number of staff photographers in a busy newspaper environment I shoot whatever comes my way but it is news and politics, the arts, and portraiture that interest me most. I’ve recently begun using audio slideshows and am excited about the increased impact images can have when combined with sound, and the potential of the web for photojournalism. Some examples of my audio slideshows can be found at www.irishtimes.com
I’ve won a number of National Press Photography prizes including the the AIB /PPAI (Press Photographers Association Of Ireland)Photographer Of The Year Award five times, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2006. I have represented Ireland in The Fuji European Press Photographer Competition and in 2006 I became the first Irish photographer to win the UK Picture Editors, Photographer of the Year Award. In June 2008 I won first prize in the Arts and Entertainment category of the UK based competition “The Press Photographer’s Year” with a portrait of the dancer Kenneth Flak at the Sydney Opera House.
Quick links
Awards
The UK Picture Editors Photographer of the Year 2006.
The Press Photographers Year 2008 category winner.
