‘Examiner’ in the picture at Kinsale festival

Exhibition to showcase work by Ireland's press photographers

Big Picture 2022 is being held this weekend at the Temperance Hall in Kinsale, Co Cork. Dan Linehan will be speaking about the 'Irish Examiner' pictures archive at 12pm on Saturday and Sunday. In this picture, the school dog takes pride of place under the desk of Calum Murphy as he and his friends T J O'Connell and Stephen Murphy return to the classroom at St Killian's special school in Mayfield, Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

Highlights from the photographic archives of the Irish Examiner will feature at a new festival in Kinsale this weekend.

Big Picture 2022 will showcase well-known photographs from 2021 alongside classic shots from key events in Irish history.

Included in the showcase, which is organised by the Press Photographers Association of Ireland (PPAI), will be photographs of the visit of John F Kennedy to Ireland, the Buttevant rail disaster, and the funeral of Michael Collins.

The collection will be shown at midday on Saturday and Sunday at the Temperance Hall in Kinsale, with free admission by EventBrite ticketing.

Phil Lynott performing with his band Thin Lizzy at Cork City Hall on February 23, 1982. Picture: Irish Examiner Archive, Ref 257/175

The venue will also host the Press Photographer of the Year exhibition with over 100 well-known photographs telling the big stories of 2021.

“A huge range of photographs, both past and present, are certain to evoke memories and emotions from anyone coming to Big Picture 2022,” said Dan Linehan, chief photographer at the Irish Examiner and PPAI committee member. 

“In the age of the smartphone, the skill of professional press photographers is still vital and can be seen in Kinsale at the weekend.” 

The PPAI Covid Collection will also be displayed publicly for the first time as a reminder of some of the moving and impactful moments of the pandemic in Ireland.

US president John F Kennedy leaving Collins Barracks, Cork, during his Irish visit in 1963. Picture: Irish Examiner Archive, Ref 891M

Frank Miller, former Irish Times photographer and pictures editor, will deliver a presentation in images of the journey from film to digital with some of his most memorable photographs and with technology insights.

“Ireland's press photographers are the visual storytellers of our island's life and times,” said PPAI president David Branigan. 

“Showing our work as widely as possible and especially amongst young women and men considering a career in media is a key objective of the PPAI.” 

PPAI photographers will be available on both days to assist student photographers who may wish to bring their portfolios to the event for feedback and career advice.

• Big Picture 2022, 11am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday, Temperance Hall, Kinsale.

For further information about Big Picture 2022, see EventBrite.