PHOTO COMPETITION TO CAPTURE THE LIFE OF THE GAELS

PHOTO COMPETITION TO CAPTURE THE LIFE OF THE GAELS

Amateur photographers are being asked to capture the life of Scottish and Irish Gaels on camera in a competition being run by Colmcille, the cultural agency which encourages links between Gaelic speakers from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland. The competition is open to amateur photographers, and the first prize for adults is £2000.

The competition, Saoghal nan Gàidheal or the Life of Gaels, which ran for the first time in 2006, was launched in Donegal on Friday (28^th March) at the Irish cultural festival An Oireachtas by Irish radio presenter Ronan Mac Aodha Bhui. Speaking at the launch he said: “This competition gives a great opportunity to the Gaels of Scotland and Ireland to display the contemporary life of the Gaels. Start snapping pictures!”

Entries for the 2006 competition in the adult and junior sections were of a very high standard with Monica Ní Fhlathárta from County Galway in Ireland winning the first prize of £2,000 with her photograph entitled ‘Aifreann ar oileán’ or ‘Island Mass’. Colin J Campbell from Lewis won the second prize last year and Lisa Morrison, also from Lewis, was the second placed junior.

Colmcille’s Scottish Project Officer Màiri S MacLeod said: “The inaugural competition proved highly successful with over 300 entries from throughout the UK, and we were very pleased with the volume of entries and the quality of the pictures we received. The idea behind the competition is unusual in a sense, as we are asking people to capture the lives of a language community on camera, which is a concept which is open to various interpretations. The winners from 2006 all took a different view on what they saw as Saoghal nan Gàidheal and that is what makes the competition so interesting and challenging. This year we’re asking people once again to look for an image that captures the lives of the Gaels. Entrants do not need to have Gaelic, or be a resident in a Gaelic-speaking area, but their image must be a digital one, and people interested in finding out more about the rules of the competition can visit our website on www.colmcille.net.”

The competition closing date is on 1^st September 2008, and photographs must be a minimum resolution of 2400 x 3000 pixels taken by a 5MP camera or higher in order to ensure they are sufficient resolution for exhibition display purposes. Only digital images are accepted, but they can be either colour of monochrome, and they must include a Scottish or Irish Gaelic caption. The total prize money is £4000, with £2000 for first prize in the adult section and £500 first prize in the junior section for under-16s.

For more information visit www.colmcille.net