Day 5

This morning we got to sleep in; it was a much-needed rest. Today was my favorite day so far because it was all about photography. This afternoon we met with Professor Roddy Flynn again and he talked about the impact of the Internet on the Irish mass media. He said the Internet has not made that much of an influence on Ireland as a whole. The most popular web sites in Ireland are not even Irish but international web sites like Google, Yahoo, and Ebay.

We then went to visit Photocall where we met with the owner and two other photographers. They all really knew what they were talking about. One of the photographers was from Texas, but he had dual-citizenship because his mother was Irish. He moved to Ireland after graduating college. He said the main difference between being a photojournalist in Ireland compared to the U.S. was the fact that in Ireland you can stage photos. In the U.S. a photographer is not allowed to do that; they have to be a complete “fly on the wall.” The best advice they could give was to never give up on your dreams on becoming a photographer. They said that even if it takes years we should keep with it and it will all turn out okay.

Later, we went to meet with Paul Kelly, a documentary and commercial photographer. He showed us a lot of samples of his work and he was very skilled. I was impressed with his documentary images. He captured the mood of the people in the photos and the colors in the photos were gorgeous.

Tomorrow we wake up bright and early at 5:45 in the morning. Good night world and may the luck of the Irish be with you!