You don’t take a photograph, you make it at Coolmore

Good photography is a professional art. Fresh from Coolmore Stud Clonmel-based Jennifer O’Sullivan is on top of her game with many, many awards under her belt.

The European published photographer is based on the Waterford Tipperary border, she specialises in horse racing, wedding photography and has now branched into agriculture.

Speaking to AgriLand, Jennifer spoke of her passion for the land. “I’ve always had a big interest in animals and the land right back to when I was a child, from owning my first horse as a teenager to studying both agriculture and horticulture to degree levels and now living in the country side. It’s been a big part of my life.”

With every changing season there is a different focus from setting to harvesting, from the first spring lamb through to the agricultural shows. “There is always something new,” she said. “Add to that the characters and wonderful people involved in the industry, it’s a great place to work, always something new on the horizon.”

Jennifer’s aim as a photographer is to tell a story through the medium. “Different photographer aim for different things. I like to shoot an image that can tell a story. Something that is a little different, something that will capture peoples attention and something unique.”

Indeed her recent photographs, published here at AgriLand and nationwide, captured the stunning harvest at Coolmore Stud.

“Shooting those images at Coolmore was amazing, just a wonderful setting in the heart of Tipperary horse country, beneath the ruins of a castle and with all the machinery and activity bathed in sunshine. It really doesn’t get much better.”

Among the main challenges for photographers these days is rapidly changing business model. “It is the way our business is changing, from film to digital and now the Internet.”

Jennifer does acknowledge technology has made parts of photographers jobs a lot easier, but it does come with a price. “The theft of images on the internet is a huge worldwide problem and is costing the industry millions of euros in lost revenue,” she said. “Keeping up with all the changes in the technology side of the business is never ending. Challenging as it is, I find it enjoyable and fulfilling learning new skills.”

Jennifer’s mother was a photographer for a local newspaper back in Sydney where she grew up.

“For as long as I can remember I had a camera and loved taking images. I met my Irish husband in Sydney and we moved back in 1993. When the economy started to decline a few years back and my husband’s plumbing business also on the decline, I decided to take my photography a little more serious and started my own business.

Next move for Jennifer, like most farmers across Ireland, is the Tullamore Show this weekend. “I guess I am better known in the horseracing industry but I am hoping to grow the agricultural side more over the next few years. I enjoy working in the two fields, both are so different yet both challenge my skills as a photographer which I enjoy. The people I meet and the places I travel too and truly wonderful, guess I’m blessed, I really love what I do.”