Monthly Archives: March 2014

WWII ‘Kissing Sailor’ Dies

sailor-kiss1The MailOnline has reported the death of the US sailor made famous in the iconic photograph made by celebrated photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt in Times Square, New York on VJ Day, 14th August 1945.

“Glenn McDuffie passed away on March 9 in a nursing home in Dallas, his daughter, Glenda Bell, told The Associated Press.”

“A mail carrier and semi-professional baseball player after he returned from World War II, McDuffie’s life became more exciting about six years ago when Houston Police Department forensic artist Lois Gibson was able to identify him as the young man leaning over the woman in his arms to kiss her.”

Read the full story on the MailOnline

Getting a Different Angle …..

Queen-Mary-2Captain Kevin Oprey stands on the bulbous bow of the Queen Mary 2

Sydney based photographer, James Morgan, took this epic shot to mark the 10th anniversary of the Ocean Liner, Cunard’s Queen Mary 2.

Here’s how The MailOnline reported it:

“The Queen Mary 2 is the largest ocean liner in the world and on Sunday her captain got a fresh view of her size and majesty.”

“Captain Kevin Oprey stood on the ship’s bulbous bow, which protrudes from the front of the 151,200 tonne liner, to pose for a portrait with his ship.”

“The photographs, taken to mark the tenth anniversary of the liner in May this year, were shot while she was docked at a port off the coast of Bali.” 

“It took months of strategic and safety planning to work out how to get Captain Oprey onto the bulbous bow, which helps to stabilise the ship and streamline movement, and dips in and out of the water depending on currents and swell.”

“But it was an idea too good to pass up.”

“‘When I suggested we photograph the captain standing on the bulbous bow, they all looked at me like I was a tiny bit mad, but the fact it hadn’t been done was why we had to do it,’ photographer James Morgan told MailOnline.”

“Mr Morgan was in Sydney last week when he got a call that the conditions in Bali were perfect for the shoot and so he hurried to the Indonesian island to capture the images.”

“However, by the time he arrived the conditions had worsened and he spent a ‘nervous five or six hours on the bridge’, before the weather calmed and they were able to get the captain safely onto the bulbous bow.”

“Mr Morgan said ‘safety was paramount’ and they used two safety boats to transport Captain Oprey to the bow. He took the shot from a small boat floating in front of the Queen Mary 2.”

See more photos on the MailOnline site.

http://youtu.be/36_DbZrEdB0

Find photographer James Morgan on Facebook

ECCG visits The Naval Base

welcome

On Saturday 8/3/14, ECCG members visited the Naval Base at Haulbowline, in Cork harbour. While the weather wasn’t ideal, it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm for the tour which was lead by Petty Officer, Brian Murphy.

naval base. 105While being a modern military base, its long and illustrious history was inescapable with historic buildings, a martello tower and a nameplate commemorating a 19th century Royal visit, featuring among the reminders of times past. Records show a continuous military presence on the island since 1602 when the island was fortified against seaborne attack.

In 1720 the first yacht club in the world, now known as Royal Cork Yacht Club, was founded in Haulbowline. In 1806 the first naval presence was established on the island and in 1865, work commenced on the building of the Naval Dockyard and Drydock which was finished in 1884 but didn’t become operational until 1894. Haulbowline was an important support base for the Royal Navy and US Navy during WWI.

In 1921 the Irish Free State was established but Britain kept control of the seas and “Treaty Ports” of Cork, Berehaven and Lough Swilly (handed back in 1938). Haulbowline was handed over to the new Irish Free State in 1923 and was kept on a “care and maintenance” basis until 1939.

20140308-DB2_9583

In September 1939, the Government purchased 6 Motor Torpedo Boats and the Marine and Coastwatching Service (a forerunner to the modern Naval Service) was established at the Naval Base and in 1946, the Government established the Naval Service as part of the Defence Forces at Haulbowline to patrol Irish Waters.

Haulbowline island – known as “Inis Sionnach” – “Fox Island” in the Irish language – has been home to the Naval Base and Dockyard since 1946.

Many thanks to P.O. Murphy and his colleagues at the Naval Base for the welcome given to us and for sharing their knowledge and facilities with us during our visit.

Check out some images from our visit below. Mouse over the images to reveal the slideshow controls and photographers’ names. At the beginning of the slideshow are four interesting black and white images shot by David Hegarty on an Ondu Pinhole camera.

[slideshow_deploy id=’1952′]

 

Naval Service Website

The Mary Stanford Comes Home

Mary Stanford-1A little bit of history was made locally over last weekend when the illustrious Royal National Lifeboat, Mary Stanford, arrived in Midleton on its journey home to nearby Ballycotton.

The boat’s own website tells the story best:

“She was the Ballycotton Lifeboat from 1930 to 1959 and was called out on 41 ‘shouts’ saving 122 lives. The most famous rescue being The Daunt Lightship rescue on 11th February 1936, as a result of this heroic rescue she was the first and remains the only lifeboat in RNLI history to be awarded a gold medal for gallantry (boat as well as crew).”

“She now sadly languishes in a backwater of Dublin’s Grand Canal Dock almost certainly heading towards being scuttled unless she is rescued soon!”

“As this is a very important part of Ballycotton and RNLI history, members of the community including relatives of the heroic Mary Stanford Coxswain Patrick (Patsy) Sliney, are teaming up to endeavor to bring The Mary Stanford home.”

The good news is that the Mary Stanford has been lifted from its moorings in Dublin and is currently in Midleton. She will soon head home to Ballycotton where she will be placed on a plinth overlooking the seas on which she carved out her reputation. It is intended to restore her over the coming year and many fundraising activities will be held to support it. We look forward to seeing the images of the restoration project and no doubt the finished project will feature in many an image of Ballycotton from here on in.

Connect with The Mary Stanford Facebook page here

Irish Examiner Article on the Mary Stanford

R.N.L.I., Ballycotton

 

John Finn ARPS

johnfinnWe are delighted to hear that local  photographer, John Finn, a member of the neighbouring Cork Camera Group, was yesterday awarded an Associateship Distinction (ARPS) from the Royal Photographic Society in Birmingham, UK.

The panel John submitted consisted of 15 inverted reflections of Cork City. His statement of intent that accompanied the panel said, “I want to show in these inverted reflections how a river is like a multi-faceted artist, by turns – realist, impressionist and modernist, taking the mundane aspects of the city, its buildings, trees and bridges and transforming them into a variety of shimmering, evanescent images.”

Well done John – well deserved.

See the panel here.