About Peter

Peter

I've always had a great love of photography, even before I knew I was interested in it. But I haven't always been a photographer. Until 2005, I was a computer systems engineer working in the US, having moved there in the mid-nineties. Around the year 2000, I bought my first digital camera and started to take an active interest. By today's standards, it was pretty laughable, but the combination of art and gadgetry had me hooked.

In 2005, I moved back home to Ireland and took the leap into photography as a career. It was a big change, and a big risk. I owe much  to my mother who, battling the onset of dementia, in a moment of lucidity told me quite firmly that I should absolutely do it. It's amazing how a mental roadblock can so simply be removed, and I'm forever grateful to her for  that.

I decided early that social photography (weddings, portraits etc.) was not for me. I found out pretty quickly that I didn't enjoy it. I had just left a career that I had grown to dislike and didn't want to make the same mistake again. I was drawn not to crowds, but to the outdoors, and to the wild places.  Landscape photography is what I Iove. Photographing the world lets me pass on to others a little of what I feel when in nature at its most beautiful.

I moved to rural West Cork in 2007 and started running workshops. At first they were one-day sessions with individuals, then weekend group seminars  that evolved to 7- and 10-day workshops, focusing on the wild scenery of my southwestern Ireland home. Since then, I've led workshops all over the world - in Iceland, Scotland, Svalbard, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Antarctic. You might say I'm a cold-weather photographer! The drama of these landscapes draws me back again and again.

Almost ten years ago, in 2011, I opened a retail gallery in Killarney, Co. Kerry. Nothing is better than experiencing other people enjoying your work. Operating the gallery has been hard work, and challenging, but also intensely rewarding . We expanded into a bigger space in 2013, and now I have an expert team who keep it running smoothly and me on my toes.

I love to teach and to pass on my knowledge and skills to other photographers. Whether you're a beginner looking for help with your first camera, or someone who's already expert and is looking for a fresh perspective, I'm here to help. 

I am a Fellow of the Irish Professional Photographers’ and Videographers Association (IPPVA) and a Qualified European Photographer of the Federation of European Photographers. My work has been featured in exhibitions from Ireland to Japan, as well as on television, and is hanging in thousands of homes all around the globe.