Call for Entries for Samhlaiocht Photo Exhibition

Lucie Harwood's winning photograph, Sunset, from Samhlaiocht's 2007 competition

Samhlaiocht is issuing a call for photographs for the second round of its Open Submission Photography Exhibition competition.

"The first heat, which had a theme of 'Winter Light', has been a huge success," said Mike Foley, Samhlaiocht, Photography Co-ordinator. "The number of submissions has been simply astounding and the quality of the work was fantastic. It's great to see photographers producing such outstanding work, much of it inspired by the beautiful county of Kerry."

The theme for the second round is 'Summer Light' and the closing date is Friday, August 28th.

"The judging panel includes Kerry Kennelly of Kerry's Eye, Dan Muphy, who is a fine art and portrait photographer with Red Couch Studios, Michael Diggin of Irish Landscape Photography and Michael O' Meara of Custom Framing Services. All the judges agreed that the standard of the photographs received for the first round was beyond all expectations," added Mike.

When quizzed about the entries for the first heat, Mike said, "The sheer number of entries was only seconded by the overall technical quality of the pics. And we're expecting a flood of entries for the second phase of the competition by the August 28th deadline because of the huge numbers of photos that are taken in the summertime."

"The photographers are asked to bear the theme in mind when submitting their work," added Mike, "but we encourage a liberal interpretation and we're looking forward to receiving a wide diversity of styles and subject matter."

When asked about digital manipulation, Mike had this to say, "With digital cameras in everyone's arsenal and this year's broad theme, we can't rule out digital manipulation, nor would we want to. Digital photography is an exciting medium and we encourage people to play around and to be as creative and artistic as they like!"

Photographs may be black and white or colour and must measure 6" X 8". Contestants must submit a hard copy of the picture to Mike Foley at Samhlaiocht, The Old Presbytery, Lower Castle Street, Tralee. For those submitting photographs taken with a digital camera please also email a copy to mike@samhlaiocht.com citing 'Samhlaiocht Photography Competition' in the subject line.

All winning entries will be professionally mounted and framed and will remain the property of the artist after the exhibition. The Framing Prize is kindly sponsored by O' Meara Fast Framing Service in Tralee Shopping Centre. Selected photographs will be displayed in the Samhlaiocht gallery in the Old Presbytery on Lower Castle Street in the heart of Tralee as part of Samhlaiocht's ongoing search for emerging talent.

The exhibition will take place from the October 1st until October 23rd, 2009.

Please include your name, address, a contact phone number, email and the title of each photograph submitted with both hard and soft copies of the photographs.

The closing date for entries to the second heat is Friday, August 28^th.

For more information on Samhlaiocht please log on to www.samhlaiocht.com or call 066 712 9934

Samhlaiocht is supported through grant aid from The Arts Council, Kerry County Council, Failte Ireland and Culture Ireland and by the generous corporate sponsorship of Kerry Group