Carlow farmer awarded prestigious global photography distinction

GILBERT Smyth, a farmer from Ballywilliamroe near Bagenalstown, was awarded an excellence distinction by the Federation International De L’Art Photographique (FIAP) at an awards ceremony in Dublin last week.

The 67-year-old is an avid wildlife photographer which he explained is because of his day job as a farmer.

“I’m a farmer and all my friends were farmers. I wanted something to clear my head. I’m sitting up on my tractor every day, looking at nature and observing it. I’ve been interested in photography all my life,” said Gilbert.

At the age of 13 or 14, he got the use of a fold-up bellows brownie camera for a party celebrating his parents’ and grandparents’ wedding anniversaries.

He continued to take shots of his family and on holidays but grew bored and wanted to improve his skills.

Mr Smyth was a member of the Carlow Photography Society between 2008 and 2022 but left to set up another photography group with seven others.

They travelled to Iceland in February of this year to capture the northern lights and “really enjoyed it, we got a lot of photographs out of it”. They plan to take a similar trip to Scotland later this year. He also does a yearly trip to Kinsale with his wife, hoping to capture the wild dear fighting in the mountains.

He began the process of getting an international award for his photography during the covid-19 lockdown.

“It was a challenge for myself,” he explained. “The only one that you are competing against is yourself.” He achieved his Artist FIAP award in 2022.

For the excellence award - the next rung on the ladder of distinctions - he had to have at least 250 photographs accepted by a jury for inclusion in an exhibition or catalogue, in 20 different countries, 30 different salons (camera clubs) with a minimum of 50 different images.

He began this process in June 2024 and managed to get 278 photographs accepted and around 50 awards. One of his photographs entitled Mr P won FIAP Gold in an Indian club last year.

Besides wildlife, Gilbert is interested in landscapes and macrophotography – capturing small things like mushrooms in incredible detail. He sees himself and other farmers as “custodians of the land” and wants to promote respect for it so that future generations can continue to live and make a living from the land.