Bryan O’Brien is the chief video journalist at The Irish Times. He grew up in Killarney, Co.Kerry and moved to Dublin in 1982. He has won a number of awards including the PPAI Photographer Of The Year Award five times, he represented Ireland twice in The Fuji European Press Photographer Awards and won the UK Picture Editors Guild Photographer of The Year Award in 2004. In 2017 he was runner up for The Videographer Of The Year Award by The UK Picture Editors Guild and in 2018 won that category with a short film entitled ‘Jude Hughes, underground tailor’. Bryan is currently taking an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at The University of the Arts, London. We caught up with Bryan in Dublin for a photo shoot and a chat about his life as a photographer and video journalist.
You joined The Irish Times in 1998, a lot of people know you as “The Irish Times guy”, but I’m curious to know more about what you were doing before 1998?
I joined The Times when I was 34. Before that I worked in The Irish independent as a staff photographer, I also was a staff photographer at The Irish Press which is gone now and before that I was a freelance photographer working mainly for The Irish independent. And even further back I was in London working in local papers. My first job out of college was with The Longford Leader.
How did you get into photography?
I was always interested from an early age. I got my first camera when I was about 12 from an aunt of mine who was coming back from America, she got me a little Pentax SLR. A friend of mine, his Mum worked in the newsagents and we used to get free magazines that were left over so it was always interesting to take in those visuals especially from The National Geographic as a small boy. I was is big into movies, I was going to the pictures every weekend. Then as a teenager, I got a summer job working for a photographer in Killarney, I had to take photographs of the tourists and then I would sell the photographs. I really enjoyed the buzz of doing that. I thought maybe I could make a living out of it so that's really how it took off.
How did the videography begin?
I started to get a bit tired of photography being used badly in newspapers. I like working on picture stories rather than just on single images. Newspapers are good for displaying a series of photographs but the internet was the way to go in terms of creating visual narratives. I was delighted when in 2013 the opportunity to retrain and learn video came up. A video department in The Irish Times was then set up. The impetus was mainly creative, I just felt that in terms of telling stories newspapers weren't good enough with photography, whereas with video you can contain everything in the story, create the narrative and present it the way you want it, so that really was the main motivation behind my journey into videography.
How much creative input do you have at The Irish Times? Do you get to pitch your ideas?
It’s half and half, some of it is commissioned in the house and some of my work is self-commissioned so it varies from week to week with the percentage. In general most of the work commissioned in the house is a reaction to the news agenda. The news editor or the features editor might pitch in with their ideas too. There's a lot of stuff that interests me that I will pursue myself and if I can't do it during working hours I’ll pursue after working hours and at the weekend.
I collaborate with a lot of people too, some people have really good story ideas and that's something I love doing, I’m very lucky because in The Times there are some great people.
What would be your favourite part of the job?
I love the engagement, I really like meeting people but I also love the creative side, that makes me happy and that feeds my soul. Every day I start with a blank canvas, starting with nothing and making something by the end of the day is very rewarding. When I get home I feel like I've completed something and made sense of it and presented it. The creative element is a big deal for me but so is meeting new people. I like people, I like drinking their coffee.
Is there any assignment that you've had so far that really stands out in your mind?
I've been to some mad places around the world but I always think that the next story is the most interesting one. You move on from them in some ways. I don't attach myself so much to the story afterwards, I kind of let them go and forget about them and move on. I love stories where ordinary people are doing ordinary things in ordinary situations, they're my favourite. I don't like anything to do with celebrity or fame. I just like regular ordinary people.
How is your MA programme going?
I’m doing an MA in photojournalism and documentary photography at The University of the Arts in London over 2 years, finishing in 2020. I'm really enjoying looking at my practice. I had been thinking about doing an MA for a while, I wanted to start making photography again but I wanted to make photography that was different to the kind that I had been making all the way through my career. I think most of the photography that I've done in my career is illustrating other people's ideas so I wanted to invest some of myself in a different type of photography and get some ideas from other like-minded people.
Photojournalism has changed a lot since I started, a lot of photojournalism now is veering towards fine art so I find that really interesting.
Who are your favourite photographers? Is there anyone that you keep an eye on?
I go through phases, I love the classic photographers of the 20th century, particularly the Americans like Richard Avedon, Robert Frank and Eugene Smith. I particularly like a contemporary photographer called Luc Delahaye. I also like Martin Parr, he's in the UK and I’m a big fan of him. New age photography rather than the traditional photojournalism interests me more at the moment but I still take inspiration from the older stuff. I wrote an essay recently which referenced Cartier Bresson. I wouldn't have been a huge fan but I've got to look at that work and look at how wonderful it is, I couldn’t help but be inspired by it.
What advice would you give to an aspiring photographer or photojournalist?
I would say shoot what you know, record life around you rather than assuming that recording life elsewhere is going to make better photography, just photograph what matters to you and the people that matter to you and enjoy it. Try to limit yourself in terms of equipment, don't get obsessed with having a lot of equipment, start very simply - one camera and one lens and just perfect that. Focus on what's close to you, focus on family and friends, focus on the people who you share a house with. A lot of really good photography isn't seen, for example, how often do you see photography from a student house party? you just don't see that, where as most student photographers end up at a party at least 20 times a year but where is the photography? When we’re so immersed in something, a house party, for example, we don't record it but that's the work that really has value over time. I would say have fun with it, like people and learn to understand people, as you do that you'll be able to predict how people behave in certain situations. Consume as many photography books as you can, look at everyone and anyone you can. Play with copying other styles and have fun with that, and then move on to another one, eventually, you'll find a niche of your own.
What does the word ‘success’ mean to you?
I think it means to be happy in oneself, making work that you enjoy and also that other people enjoy. I think if you're successful you're making work that you really like and you’re having fun doing it, you're engaging with people and the people you're collaborating with are having fun too. it's got nothing to do with money or recognition, it's got to do with oneself, it's more a sense of happiness I guess.
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