Dive Ireland Speaker: Daragh Muldowney
Daragh Muldowney
Daragh Muldowney’s interest in photography originally developed when he completed a Scuba Diving course in 1992, where he was awestruck by the experience of being underwater.
Without the use of artificial light or filters, his photography aims to present the smaller details of nature that we often overlook. As a result, his work gently reminds us to appreciate our beautiful planet. Daragh is a full-time professional photographer working as Dúlra Photography which he established in February 2003.
Daragh’s commitment to developing his work was further demonstrated when he travelled across the Sahara in Morocco and then trekked across glaciers in Iceland, taking photographs of the opposing climates and conditions. The images from the two trips were launched in 2007 as his first themed exhibition called ‘Sand & Ice’. A couple of years later he took on the exploration of Ireland’s rock pools which was to become ‘Jewellery Box Ireland’s Hidden Gems’, an exhibition that has travelled all over the world.
In 2013, Daragh set sail aboard the Killary Flyer to Greenland to create a new body of work entitled ‘Out of Thin Air’. The collection proved to be the most popular yet, winning the FEP European Photobook of the Year award for 2015 in the Landscape category. In 2015, Daragh was due to return to Greenland, but this time to photograph the icebergs from under the water. Unfortunately the trip did not take place; however, the summer of 2015 was not wasted – Daragh embarked on a trip around Ireland making long exposure underwater images, which will be presented at Dive Ireland 2016.