Progamme Staff
Ann Curran
Ann lectures in Photography and is Programme Chair of the BA Photography. She has a BA in History from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in Fine Art from Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, New York.
Her research is concerned with what Hal Foster defines as an archival impulse, that which seeks ‘to make historical information, often lost or displaced, physically present.’
She has exhibited in Ireland and the U.S. She was formerly the Assistant Coordinator for the Media Center at Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester New York. She was the Coordinator of the Central New York Programmers Group based at Cornell University and was active in bringing both documentary and experimental film/videomakers to the upstate New York media centre and college circuit.
Valerie Connor
Valerie lectures on the visual studies, photography and curatorial modules. With a background in lens based art, critical theory and curating, she also regularly writes for the arts press and academic journals. As an external consultant within the cultural sector she advises on policy, project development and programming in the visual arts.
Educated at NCAD and TCD, she has taught and supervised research at undergraduate and postgraduate level in a range of third level institutions.
Anthony Haughey
Anthony lectures on the BA Photography programme. He also supervises doctoral practice-based projects in the Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice. He was a Research Fellow at the Interface Centre for Research in Art, Technologies and Design at the University of Ulster Belfast, where he completed a PhD in 2009. His art practice works from the premise of a principal situatedness of art in place and community and its connectedness through dialogic exchange. He has collaborated widely with diverse societal groups and individuals, often blurring the lines between subject and viewer.
His work has been widely exhibited and published, most recently in The Copperhouse Gallery and The Gallery of Photography, Dublin, New York Photo Festival 2011, TULCA 10, Crawford Art Gallery and the Korea Foundation in Seoul. Forthcoming exhibitions include Künstlerhaus S11 in Solothurn, Helsinki Photography Biennial and BOZAR ou le Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles. Monographs include The Edge of Europe (1996), Disputed Territory (2006) and an artist’s book State (2011).
His work is represented in many public and private collections. He has published many articles and chapter contributions, including, ‘Imaging the Unimaginable’ in Alan Grossman and Ainé O’Brien, A. (eds) (2007) Projecting Migration, Transcultural Documentary Practice, London: Wallflower Press, and ‘Dislocations: Participatory Media with Refugees in Ireland and Malta’ in Katherine Goodnow and Lovise Skartveit. (eds) (2010) New Media and Refugees: Forms and Issues of Participation, London: Berghahn. He is an editorial advisor for the photographic journal Photographies, London: Routledge.
Ellen Thorton
Ellen lectures in Photography on the BA Photography programme, BA Film & Broadcasting, BA Journalism programme. She is a graduate of DIT (Photography 1988), U.C.D. (BCL 1984) M.Lit. N.U.I. Trinity College (1999) Before joining the teaching staff of DIT she spent ten years self-employed as an advertising and editorial photographer working with print and audio visual presentations. During this time she also scripted and presented a photography course for children for RTE.
Her main research interests centre on the use of the image to question, document, persuade and re-present the world we all live in and share. She situates her practice within a discourse of questioning rather than answering leaving it to the viewer to enter into their own dialogue with the image. She is especially interested in the interplay between cultural symbolism and the narratives of individual and collective identity. She has researched the topic of land, home, and place as they are played out within the geographical and political conflict area of Israel/Palestine. Her work has been exhibited in Israel UK and Ireland.
Tim Kovar
Tim is a commercial photographer with 25 years experience working with a wide variety of clients and genres. He began his photographic career as a lab manager handling film and went on to earn an MSc in Digital Media from Trinity College, Dublin.
He currently teaches book design and production, digital production techniques, and business skills in professional practice.
Tim's interest in social and environmental issues recently led him to complete an MSc in Sustainable Development.
Eavan Murphy
Eavan teaches ‘Law for Photographers’ as part of the professional studies module. She has lectured Media Law in DIT’s Department of Law for ten years, designing and teaching courses on media and copyright law for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Eavan has developed and delivered industry specific lectures and courses on intellectual property, employment and company law for a variety of national organisations. She has been external examiner in educational institutes from the Institute of Incorporated Public Accountants to the Garda College. She is the author of two best selling legal textbooks, now in their third and fourth edition.
Eavan is a graduate of UCD (BCL and LLM) and the Honourable Society of the King's Inns (Barrister-at-Law). Her current research interests include the interaction of law and popular, culture particularly the representation of law in cinema; media reporting of the courts, and image rights.
Tony Murray
Tony lecturers in BA Photography and Content Development for MA Creative Digital Media. He is a graduate of Fine Art (NCAD) and has a Master in Learning and Teaching in Third Level Education (DIT).
He worked for many years as a freelance photography and as a camera operator in RTE. He was the first photographer to receive an Arts Council Bursary (1978) for a documentary project on Holy Wells of Ireland. He served on a number of boards including: the Gallery of Photography (Chairperson), Temple Bar Properties, National College of Art and Design and Visual Arts Studios.
A published author on Irish politics (A Guide to Irish Politics), his photographic work has been exhibited widely both nationally and internationally (Ireland, UK, France and USA). He has also directed and produced a number of documentaries for television (RTE, BBC and ITV).
http://www.tonymurray.ie
Geoff White
Geoff has been a member of the DIT staff since 1981. He lectures in photography and digital imaging on the BA in Photography. He has also taught related visual and digital fields periodically. He is a graduate in Photography (DIT) and holds a Masters in Film Studies (NUI).
He has worked as a professional photographer in Ireland and the UK, particularly in the areas of architectural and environmental photography, dance and fine art. He has exhibited in Ireland, the UK and Europe. Geoff’s photographic practice and research interests are mainly centered on constructed and synthesised photographic imagery.