Rashida Keenan snaps up Overall Photographer of the Year
Louth-based photographer Rashida Keenan snapped up the Photographer of the Year award at the prestigious Irish Professional Photographers & Vidoeographers Association (IPPVA) Awards.
Rashida, who lives near Faughart with her husband Ivan and their four children, was thrilled to win the overall title at the industry awards at a gala event in Dublin on April 7.
“To say I am overwhelmed is a massive understatement. I can’t find the words to express what this means,” she said.
As well as winning the overall award, Rashida was also named as the Open Creative Photographer of the Year, Environmental Portrait Photographer of the Year, and was a finalist in the categories for Wedding Classical and Creative Photographer of the Year and Wedding Documentary Photographer of the Year.
In all, Rashida had a total of 52 award winning images in the competition for her wedding, portrait and family photos.
It was her family photos in the Open Creative Category that won the Overall Irish Photographer of the Year 2024 award international judge Judy Host describing them as “brilliant”.
“All of the images in this folder are so beautifully and visually amazing and a perfect storytelling combination of wit and humour. The execution of each image is emotional, kind, funny and sweet. I love what the maker did to portray this whimsical story. Bravo…. very deserving of “Photographer of the Year.” That kind of creativity is so rare. She is amazing,” said the judge.
More than 2500 images were submitted to the competition over the course of the year. The photographs and videos were judged by panel of other professionals from Ireland and abroad.
Rashida, who took up photography after the birth of her daughter Arabella in 2014, had previously worked as an occupational therapist. She studied photography at the Southern Regional College, Newry and enrolled in an on-line diploma course with the Photography Institute.
She quickly made a name for herself as a talented family and wedding photographer, displaying a real eye for catching those special impromptu moments.
To date, Rashida has won over thirty awards for her photography. This is the second time she has won the Photographer of the Year award at the IPPVA Awards, previously winning it in 2019. She was also named as the Northern Irish Professional Photographer of the Year in 2022.