About

It all started when…

My love of storytelling doesn’t come from childhood trauma or anything particularly exciting, it’s inspired by my family of storytellers and their love of sharing memories.

During the recession in the 1980’s my father left the Republic of Ireland for work in Munich, Germany. He returned several months later with an Olympus OM10, bought directly from the camera maker’s factory just outside Munich. I was a toddler so I wasn’t permitted to actually use the camera, but I was immediately drawn to it, we compromised and I was eventually allowed to play with its case.

I soon found an old tape recorder and microphone in the house and proceeded to interview family and visitors to our home. Later my mother brought me regularly on day trips to Dublin which always included visits to our National Gallery of Art and the National History Museum. This combination proved to inspire my love of storytelling in all its forms.

Raised in Tullamore, County Offaly, in the Republic of Ireland I’m a country girl at heart and now base myself between the midlands and Dublin city. I enjoy being a fly on the wall and through my documentary work I aim to give an intimate insight into worlds ordinarily hidden from public view.

In 2015 I self-published my first photo-book A Bower For Sisters, a portrait of Our Lady’s Bower Boarding School in Athlone County Westmeath. The book was featured in numerous publications including the Irish Arts Review and the Irish Times. My work has also been featured at World Press Photo 2014 under the Young Journalist spotlight banner in Dublin.

As a Journalist, I work to separate fact from fiction and to find the human story at the heart of any situation. I am platform agnostic, I enjoy storytelling in multiple media and aim to match the narrative to the medium. For me the story is at the heart of what I do, and that is more important than the medium.

Following over a decade working as a broadcast Journalist at local and national level, I have embarked on teaching Journalism and Photography at college level and I am also available for group and private workshops.  

I hold a 2.1 Honours MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from the University of Arts London's, London College of Communication and a 2.1 BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. I am also fully registered with the Teaching Council of Ireland.

My commercial photography work includes but is not limited to, weddings, portraiture and publicity.

I am always open to opportunities of collaboration. Please feel free to get in contact on info@aislingorourke.com.