Through Norman’s Lens: Celebrating the Landscapes of Kenmare and Kerry
There are some people whose work becomes so closely associated with a place that it is difficult to imagine one without the other. For Kenmare, landscape photographer Norman McCloskey is one of those people.
For more than three decades, Norman has been capturing the extraordinary landscapes of Kerry and the southwest of Ireland, creating images that are instantly recognisable yet somehow manage to show us familiar places in an entirely new light.
Based in Kenmare, Norman first began photographing the landscape here in 1992. After studying photography at IADT and graduating in 1995, he spent many years working professionally in commercial and editorial photography before eventually following his long held ambition to concentrate fully on landscape photography.
That decision has resulted in an extraordinary body of work celebrating the mountains, coastlines, lakes and changing light of this corner of Ireland.
From PARKLIGHT to HEADLANDS
Norman began work on his first major book, PARKLIGHT: Images of Killarney National Park, in 2011. Published in 2013, the book went on to receive international recognition, taking second place in the International Photography Awards book category in 2014.
It was followed by BEARA in 2018 and KINGDOM in 2022, the latter a deeply personal homage to the Kerry landscape that had inspired Norman for more than 30 years.
His fourth and most recent book, HEADLANDS, brings his story almost full circle.
The project returns Norman to the landscapes of West Cork, where he first travelled with his camera in 1992. Published in 2025, HEADLANDS continues his exploration of Ireland’s western coastline and the relationship between landscape, light and place.
Across all four books there is a wonderful consistency to Norman’s work. These are not simply photographs of beautiful scenery. They reflect the patience that comes from knowing a landscape intimately and returning to it again and again, often waiting for exactly the right moment, weather or quality of light.
A Gallery in the Heart of Kenmare
In 2015, Norman opened the Norman McCloskey Gallery in the heart of Kenmare.
Today, his photographs hang in private homes and corporate collections around the world, but there is something particularly special about being able to see the landscapes of Kerry and the Beara Peninsula displayed just a short distance from many of the places in which the photographs were created.
Visitors to Kenmare can browse Norman’s limited and open edition prints, photography books and collections at the gallery on Main Street, and perhaps discover a familiar Kerry landscape through a completely different lens.
A Generous Friend to Kenmare
Here at Kenmare Tourism, we also want to acknowledge something that visitors may not necessarily know.
Norman has been extraordinarily generous in allowing Kenmare Tourism to use his photography to promote our town and the surrounding area.
Anyone involved in destination marketing knows just how important exceptional photography is. Images are often the very first introduction someone has to a place, long before they arrive.
Over the years, Norman’s photographs have helped us tell the story of Kenmare and showcase the remarkable landscape that surrounds us to audiences at home and abroad. His generosity has been a tremendous asset to the town and is something for which all of us involved with Kenmare Tourism are enormously grateful.
We are also particularly looking forward to seeing one of Norman’s beautiful images representing Kenmare as part of an exciting project currently in development. More on that soon!
Seeing Kerry Differently
Perhaps what makes Norman’s work particularly special is that this is not the work of someone simply passing through.
It is the work of someone who has spent decades observing this landscape.
The mountains, the Atlantic coastline, the Beara Peninsula, Killarney National Park and the quieter corners in between have provided a lifetime of inspiration. Through changing seasons, weather and light, Norman has documented the southwest of Ireland with an intimacy that can only come from truly knowing a place.
For visitors to Kenmare, a visit to the Norman McCloskey Gallery offers an opportunity not only to see some remarkable Irish landscape photography, but to see the landscape surrounding our town through the eyes of someone who has spent more than 30 years exploring it.
And for those of us lucky enough to call Kenmare home, Norman’s photographs are a beautiful reminder that sometimes the most extraordinary views are the ones right on our doorstep.
Norman McCloskey Gallery
4 Main Street, Kenmare, Co. Kerry
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