Cork photographer donates 42,000 film negatives to library

It is said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”, and this seems never more apt when viewing the work of professional photographer Gerard O’Meara, whose career spans more than six decades.

His photographs record a social history, of day to day life, each one telling its own tale.

On July 14, Gerard celebrated his 80th birthday. He was born in Cork city and lived most of his life in Mallow. Recently, he donated his photography collection comprising of 42,000 film negatives, hard copies and compact discs to Cork County Council Library and Arts Service. These will be digitised in time and available to view online.

Twenty-one of his photographs went on exhibition in Mallow library recently, which is where Gerard told me about his work and how he got started,

“My mother used to send me into a local chemist shop, Joyces, to keep me out of trouble. There was a Mr Peter O’Regan developing and printing photographs in the back, and unbeknownst to myself I was getting interested in developing and printing.

Four years later, when I was 14, my parents gave me a present of a camera.

Gerard credits Robert O’Donoghue (who was picture editor in The Echo newspaper) with his first break in photography when he was a young man.

“I went up the steps in Patrick Street asking if there was any chance of getting photographs into the Echo. Some time later Robert asked me if I had a photo of Kilkenny castle, because the Echo were doing a feature piece on it. I said I had. I was part of the Pax Christi movement at the time, and one of the trips ended up in Kilkenny. I had taken a photo of the castle, not realising how important it would be afterwards.

“I got my first commission when I was 18,” he added.

Gerard has photographed 18 different disciplines, some of which include theatre, fashion, aerial, medical, food and nature.

He says that theatre and fashion were his original favourites, and recalls how he photographed fashion by designer Paul Costello at a show in Brown Thomas in Cork, as well as winning designs at Mallow College of Tailoring and shows at The Everyman Theatre and Cork Opera House.

With theatre, he said he “learned to stay in the shadows so as not to distract the actors”.

Gerard is a soft-spoken, unassuming gentleman with an obvious passion for and in-depth knowledge of photography.

When asked what drew him initially to theatre and fashion photography, he says that it was, “the opportunities to be there as an observer waiting for the precise moment”.

The subject matter of his photographs is so varied, I asked what inspires it,

“Blessed with being in the right place at the precise moment and being given the opportunities to photograph all these occasions,” he replied.

Gerard said that, in the past, he saw interesting work by photographers he admired being lost and thought it a pity. This was what gave him the idea to donate his collection.

I noticed one of his photos on exhibit was of Perk’s funfair in Mallow town park, taken around the 1980s. I remembered the joy of going to that carnival as a child and found myself studying the carnival rides and the people, their clothes and how they were standing.

I looked at them chatting and wondered what they were talking about. Some of these people are gone now. These are moments in time, in some way preserved.

Another photograph depicts the opening of a butcher shop in the 1980s with several butchers standing behind the counter ready for business, and sawdust on the floor to soak up spills.

Photography, like other art forms, has that power to evoke unique memories and emotions, it shows how much we (as a society) have changed.

After 62 years capturing ‘Magic Moments’, as is the title of Gerard’s book of photography published in 2010, some might think of retiring the camera. Gerard, however, continues to enjoy his craft with a new focus on nature photography.

His attention to detail and enthusiasm is evident as he speaks about a favourite photo he recently took in Goat Island near Ardmore in County Waterford. It’s a photo of a huge wave breaking. He “kept missing it,” he said.

He then “timed the wave as it approached the rock and pressed the button”.

Here, we publish some of Gerard’s photographs.