The photoblogging community and the internet-based photography community is relatively small, and is full of shock and sadness today at the news that one if its own, Danny O’Brien, passed away suddenly yesterday. I can’t say I knew Danny and I never met him, but I did know @DannieOBrien (as he was on Twitter), I knew Valentia (as he was on pix.ie), I regularly visited and enjoyed Porchfield (his photoblog) and I had recently discovered his Flickr Photostream. We interacted most recently in relation to the print auction for Haiti, and he placed a generous bid on one of my images.
There are others more qualified to speak today about Danny O’Brien the man and they will, I’m sure, be doing so in all the places online and offline where he made his presence felt, where he influenced other photographers, and where he was a friend. All I can say is that I know he will be a huge loss to the online photography community, a community in which he was one of the more active participants – something that is obvious even from just looking at how frequently he interacted with people online – and a community which learned from and was inspired by the photographs he produced.
Even if you didn’t know Danny, it’s not too late to know his photography, and I encourage all of you today to take a moment to visit Porchfield.com and browse through the work that stands as a lasting testament to his talent for photography.
To quote a testamonial that was placed on his flickr page in November 2007:
“Danny’s photos are a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. When I see his photos I try to push myself and my camera harder, and hope to someday come out with the same style of amazing photos he produces with every update.”
May he rest in peace.
[...] Ronan Palliser [...]
Wow Ronan, Lovely tribute.