'How We Age’ competition winners capture ordinary and extraordinary moments in everyday lives of older people

5 Aug, 2022

An intergenerational vignette, a moment of holiday fun, and a poignant Covid-19 snapshot – these are the prize-winning images that captured the judges attention in the Institute of Public Health’s ‘How We Age’ photography competition.

The Institute is delighted to announce the winners in this all-island competition, which was launched in April to reframe how older people are portrayed in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The competition invited photographers to submit images capturing older people in their everyday lives under the theme of ‘Staying Active, Staying Social, Staying Connected’.

Members of the judging panel were hugely impressed by the range and quality of images submitted in this, the first ever, photography competition hosted by IPH.

The judging panel was made up of Professor Roger O’Sullivan, IPH Director of Ageing Development and Research; Eddie Lynch, Commissioner for Older People in Northern Ireland; Tara Byrne, Arts Programme Manager, Age & Opportunity; Robin Webster, Adjunct Lecturer, Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, NUI Galway and former CEO Age Action Ireland, and Maresa Fagan, IPH Communications Officer.

First prize, a €500 gift voucher, was awarded to Helen Maloney from Athlone, a member of Athlone Camera Club, for her lovely image capturing her own mother, Eileen, in her shop with her great granddaughter Ryleigh Maloney Hughes.

_{1st prize went to photographer Helen Maloney, Athlone, for her intergenerational image featuring great grandmother Eileen Whelan and her great granddaughter Ryleigh Maloney Hughes.}

Second prize, a €300 gift voucher, went to Gerry Scully from Dublin, who captured his parents in law, Aidan and Mary Ellison, having a fun moment on a family holiday in France.

_{2nd prize went to Gerry Scully, Dublin, for an image featuring parents in law, Aidan and Mary Ellison, on a family holiday in France.}

Third prize, a £100 gift voucher, went to Mark Davison, from Lisburn, a member of Belfast Photo Imaging Club, who captured a poignant moment during the Covid-19 pandemic, which was aptly titled ‘Sweethearts’.

_{3rd prize went to photographer Mark Davison, Lisburn, for his poignant image featuring Wilma Anderson and Nigel Fowler durin}_g_{the pandemic.}

From the entries received, IPH will create a gallery of stock images for use in its ongoing work to promote healthy ageing and broader public health themes, which may also be made available to partner and allied organisations as a free-to-access image resource.

Commenting on the winning images IPH Director of Ageing Development and Research Roger O’Sullivan said: “We were struck and highly impressed by the creativity of photographers across the island who entered the ‘How We Age’ competition. Many entries featured parents, grandparents, neighbours, friends or community or group activities and the breadth of images really captured the ordinary and extraordinary moments in the everyday lives of older people.”

“This is a first step towards changing how older people are portrayed and we intend to launch a new gallery of images later this year and also to build on this concept of an image bank into the future,” he added.

This ‘How We Age’ gallery of selected images will be launched in October to mark International Day of Older Persons.

The Institute would like to thank all involved in the competition, from the dozens of photographers who submitted entries, to members of the judging panel, to the Irish Photographic Federation (IPF) and Northern Ireland Photographic Association (NIPA), who also supported the initiative.