Help Portrait is a wonderful initiative by US based photographer Jeremy Cowart that allows photographers to give back to their local community.

Here in Cork we’ve had support from photographers, make-up artists, hairdressers, magicians and any number of volunteers over the past two years. And we’ve brought a lot of smiles to a lot of faces that would otherwise have had little joy in the run up to Christmas.

This year, both Paul and I are unable to take a role in organizing Help Portrait Cork.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t go ahead.

If you’re based in Cork and would like to carry the initiative forward this year, let us know.

If it’s going to happen, now is the time to start. The most essential thing is for someone to decide within the next few days and drop us a line – so that we can meet you and answer any questions you may have.

Together with Eoin Mulligan and Tomas Tyner, I struggled over on the post-production desks due to some bad planning decisions (of my own making, I must admit) and two temperamental dye-sub printers.

I hadn’t counted on doing post at all. I had intended to shoot portraits. However, once I had sat down to help figure out a colour management issue, time dissolved and the next thing I knew it was 4pm. We were frazzled; had had to disappoint people by halting the burning of image files to DVDs, and had to restructure our entire post-production work flow for an hour while a local supplier was called away from his Sunday to open shop and deliver in fresh printing supplies to us. We had contingency plans, just not for the sequence of bad luck we encountered. Too long and boring to go into.

Adversity is an excellent teacher.

I learned that faced with a mountainous problem, calm words shared between comrades will reduce it to a molehill.

I learned that I know a lot of very good people. I learned that my problems don’t amount to very much compared with the burdens others carry.

I learned that the human spirit is a remarkable thing.

I learned that people can be so grateful.

I am grateful. To everyone who heeded the call put out over the last months by Paul O’Mahony and myself, and then by others as they joined our ranks. There are so many who came to stand at our shoulder. So many I want to thank. I don’t know how.

I’m especially grateful to Paul, for asking me to get involved with him in Help Portrait to begin with. I had time to take a handful of snapshots today of a handful of the heroines and heroes. And I recorded a couple of AudioBoos.

Carol

Tomas

Mike

Ger

Eoin

Niamh - My one and only portrait of the day taken during set up.

Ivan

Everyone (well, not everyone, but a lot of the volunteers)

***UPDATE***

We have been receiving some wonderful feedback on the Cork event’s Facebook page, both from volunteers and those we photographed: Help Portrait Cork Facebook page

Help Portrait

Earlier today, while waiting for Paul O’Mahony, the chief driver of Help Portrait here in Cork, I recorded an AudioBoo listing the photographers who have committed to helping us on Sunday. You can listen to it below. Since recording it, two more photographers have joined our ranks: Adrian O’Herlihy and Ronan Kirby.

The wonderful people at Fuzion Communications in Cork (Greg, Mary and Kerrie) brought in photographer Miki Barlok to take the pic, which was shot in the penthouse suite at the Clarion Hotel in Cork, the venue for Sunday’s event.

A fab pic by hero photographer Miki Barlok. Kerrie from Fuzion in the chair. The photographers are from left to right: Algis Raugas, Jessica Jones, Niamh O'Doherty, and Ugly. (c) Miki Barlok 2010

Pretty good isn’t it?

Actually, let’s be honest here: it’s FAB-U-LOUS.

For the photographers out there, three small strobes were used. One on Miki’s camera, one on a stand through an umbrella, the third on my camera. I’m hiding the remote receiver, which was triggered from Miki’s camera.

Miki knows his stuff, and we got a terrific image; one that helped us get on the front page of a national daily. As a result, we have been getting phone calls from so many people who need a boost – exactly what we’d hoped for.

More to come tomorrow.

Proud.

That is how I would describe myself after last night’s launch of Help Portrait Cork 2010 at the Clarion Hotel.

Humbled by the number of people who turned up to pledge their support for the big day in December. Cork is full of good people. Not least the management of the Clarion who gave us the room last night and have offered a huge space for December.

Proud of what we accomplished in 2009. We heard the incredible story of how the experience of Help Portrait last year turned a person’s life around. Hearing it made me catch my breath. There were tears in the room last night.

To think that we did this. To think that everyone who participated in last year’s Cork event contributed in some way to the transformation of a human life for the better is something truly remarkable.

We want to do it again this year. We want to do it bigger and better. Up to four times bigger and better, which is why we are starting with the event planning now. If you want to stand at our side, let me know. If you are elsewhere in Ireland and you want to learn from our experience last year to establish your own event, please get in touch.

As I write these words, I am overcome with positive emotion. The experience of Help Portrait has made me a better man. It has made my life better. So I’m going to thank the two people without whom I wouldn’t feel this way: Jeremy Cowart, whose idea it was; Paul O’Mahony, who drove this on in Cork. Giants, both.

Paul O'Mahony speaks to a handful of last night's early guests. A big thank you to everyone who made it in the end (in no particular order): Marcela Whelan (who will liaise with charities), Alice-Anne Oliver (volunteer host), Eoin Mulligan (photographer), Margaret Smith (who has promised wonderful Umnumnum biscuits in December), Margaret Hegarty (who will deliver the biscuits and be a volunteer host), Emma Hawkett (social well-being charity), Owen Killeen (photographer), Dragan Tomas (photographer), Sandra Brett (social well-being charity), Siobhan Hallissey (make-up artist), Donal Hanafin (our post-production guru and miracle worker), Beatrix Lafosse (PR), Emma Pyne (who will co-ordinate our make-up artists), Elaine O'Callaghan (make-up artist), Siobhan Oliver (singer - that's right, we're having music this year), Algis Raugas (photographer), Philip Daly (photographer) and Joan O'Shea (volunteer host). Thank you also to those who were there in spirit. (c) Roger Overall 2010

The view from my seat in the studio. (c) Roger Overall 2010

I’ve never given a live radio interview before. Consequently, much of my brain was engaged in a single task: preventing myself from saying “Fxxk” on air.

I’m not really able to tell you what I said using the rest of my head, but I’m told I didn’t sound like a vegetable. So that’s good.

There had been talk of an interview to promote the Bid For Haiti auction on a local radio station for a couple of days. I wasn’t sure which one, or where I had to be, or when. All I knew was that if it were to happen I’d find out about it fairly last minute.

At 11.55 today I was pulled over in my car, blocking someone’s driveway, speaking to Paul O’Mahony, my main co-organizer on the Bid For Haiti project. Through the wonderful Sabrina Dent we had been invited on to John Handelaar‘s one-hour lunchtime talk show on CorkFM. I needed to be at the studio in under 45 minutes. The directions were … let’s say “interesting”.

Long story short, CorkFM is a fledgling radio station (87.7 on FM) with a license to broadcast on 15 consecutive weekends. After that, they’ll go for a year-long license, followed by a full 10-year broadcasting permit. And best of luck to them.

At the minute they are broadcasting from temporary space by Kilbarry House on the outskirts of Cork with equipment begged and borrowed from a range of sources. It’s the kind of place that’s round the back of somewhere, down that lane, you know the one, on the left, and through the gate with the broken pillars.

I only got lost once.

So did Paul.

I’d just like to say a big thank you to Sabrina, John and Donal (the station owner) for giving us so generously of their airtime.

You’ll also be happy to know that I didn’t say “Fxxk” on air.

But Paul did say “Bugger”.

BID FOR HAITI

Charity Auction of Paintings, Photographs, Sculptures and Writing

Sunday 14th February 2010

Metropole Hotel, MacCurtain Street, Cork

Registration and viewing from 11am

Auction starts at 3pm

All proceeds to go to GOAL’s relief work in Haiti

Online Catalogue

From left to right: John, Donal and Paul having a pre-interview chat. (c) Roger Overall 2010

CorkFM owner Donal listens to the station's broadcast before we go on in a room across the hall from the studio. At this point, nobody has sworn on air. (c) Roger Overall 2010

John Handelaar chats across the console to Paul during a song. (c) Roger Overall 2010

"North Sea" - A rare depiction of a modern ship at sea by Danish maritime artist Johannes Moeller

I do own it, however, and I love it.

It was part-payment for a job I did many, many years ago when I was a freelance PR consultant in the UK. It is both beautiful and significant, as there are very few paintings of modern ships at sea by significant artists. [UPDATE: My good friend Paul O'Mahony found this on the internet: North Sea.]

I am donating it, along with prints of my own work, to the “Bid for Haiti” auction that I am helping to organize.

Nationally- and internationally-renowned artists, photographers and sculptors will be giving original pieces to be sold at the event, which will be held on Sunday 14th February at the Gresham Metropole Hotel here in Cork. Viewing and registration will be from 11am, and the auction itself will get underway at 3pm.

This is going to be a phenomenal opportunity for bidders to acquire original works, none of which have a reserve price on them.

All the proceeds from the auction will go to GOAL‘s Haiti relief effort.

Please spread the word about the auction. Blog, twitter, facebook… anything you can do to help publicize the event would be fantastic.

And if you have a chance, please come along. There will be some wonderful things up for auction. What could be more rewarding than filling that blank space on your wall with art that helped alleviate some of the suffering in Haiti?

Videographer Gerry MacBride is a hero. I’m blown away by this.

Thank you so much Gerry.

Today, though, I am going to be lazy work smart.

Paul O’Mahony, who got Help Portrait started here in Cork, has done all the legwork and produced a list on his blog of those who helped us organize the event. You can find it here:  “Roll of Honour”. By the way, if anyone is missing [God, we hope not] do let us know and we’ll make sure you’re recognised.

Paul has also produced a short version of our story on Flickr .