Acclaimed photographer climbs high

This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column.

Michael Commane

It was probably 1999 that I first met a young chap from north Cork. He was 17/18 at the time and was taking pictures for The Kerryman and The Corkman newspapers. It was before the era of digital photography. 

The previous year I had started working in The Kerryman. Mark Condren would arrive in to the newspaper office in Tralee with a pile of pictures for the following day’s paper. Regularly he’d be late and always had the same excuse, got held up in a traffic jam in Castleisland.

He was a breath of fresh air, extremely funny, everyone knew that his pictures were of extremely good quality.

I remember on one occasion telling him that if he didn’t learn to spell he’d never make it as a photographer.

Twenty-two years later Mark is one of the country’s leading photographers and is today a staff photographer with The Irish Independent. Indeed, he has just returned from a visit to Ukraine where he took some harrowing pictures.

Over the years we have stayed in touch. We met up last Saturday week. Mark was taking part in the Ride Dingle, which is a 120 kilometre cycle from Dingle, over the Connor Pass, which rises to 456 metres, and then down into Castlegregory, over to Camp, through Annascaul and finishing back in Dingle. A tough cycle and anyone who has done it knows what the climb is like out of Dingle. 

The charity cycle is organised by Dingle Cycling Club and  proceeds go to the Dingle Camphill Community, the Kerry Hospice Foundation and Kerry Cancer Support Group.

I was in West Kerry on the day of the cycle so Mark and I decided to meet. No, I was not taking part in the cycle but instead met Mark in Camp, where I arrived on my motorbike.

He told me to be there sometime close to midday but in true Mark style it was close to 1pm before he arrived.

It meant I had the best part of an hour to observe life at a cross roads in a Kerry village while cyclists kept passing by in a relentless fashion. It would seem most of them were men, probably between 30 and 50. Of course there were some younger and older. 

When the first woman cycled through she got a great clap from those of us who were on the roadside. That clap and a smart aleck comment from someone spurred us on to keep clapping on a more regular basis, especially those who seemed to be finding it somewhat difficult. 

I know the support and help a clap can give as I have done the Ring of Kerry cycle on two occasions.

Eventually, Mark arrives with a friend, who is a far more practised and proficient cyclist than he. Indeed, Mark had done no practice whatsoever for Ride Dingle. The two of them stopped for about five to 10 minutes during which time we had a great laugh.

Approximately 2,200 took part on the cycle. Yes, Mark finished it. If he does it next year I might join him.

 

Well done to all who took part and to those who made it possible.

Ride Dingle might spur more communities to get on ‘yer bike’. A challenging way to spend a spring/summer day.