Winnie
Kenneth O’Halloran
I first met Winnie with her family at the annual Africa Day celebrations in Farmleigh House in Dublin on Sunday the 21st May.
I was commissioned by The Irish Times to cover the event which is a celebration of the culture, diversity and links to Ireland of the continent’s 54 countries.
I photographed Winnie with 2 other girls, Yewande Ogunnaike and Favour Nwoga. The African girls were competing in The Miss Africa competition, all three wearing tiaras.
Winnie was celebrating her first Holy Communion with her parents, brothers and sisters. The resulting image appeared in the front page of the following day’s Irish Times Newspaper.
I also took a few family photographs and promised to deliver the images in person to their home at a later date.
Two weeks later I delivered the photographs and spoke to Winnie’s mother about the possibility of making a portrait of her as a solitary figure, only this time using the back garden as a location.
The Sony World Photography Awards selected Kenneth O’Halloran as the winner of the 2018 Ireland National Award.
