Hi all.

My name is Anthony O’Connor. I’m a photographer, writer, East Asian medicine practitioner and educator based in Co. Clare, Ireland. I’m on the left in the photo.

I am fascinated by the lessons illnesses are trying to teach us, the multi-faceted aspects of healing and the way our relationship with Nature and our environment affects these. These are themes I explore frequently in my writing and I set up the ‘Quackademy’, an online container inspired by indigenous and intuitive healing practices, in order to help other practitioners find their own unique healing voices.

I am producer and co-host of the “Weshtern Philosophy” podcast with Bart Lever, which explores the unseen influences on our lives through the lens of music, mystery and craic, and which is altogether too high-falutin’ for its own good.

My interest in China began when I began practicing martial arts and tai chi in my teens and led to me enrolling in University College Cork’s Chinese Studies degree programme and moving to Shanghai at age 20. I later qualified as an acupuncturist and tuina practitioner at Zhejiang Chinese Medical University and then as a herbalist with the University of Westminster, London.

I was a part-time lecturer and clinic supervisor with the Northern College of Acupuncture in the UK, student liaison officer for the UK - Taiwan Academy of Traditional Medicine and consultant practitioner for Herbprime herbal medicine suppliers, as well as making educational videos for Sun Ten.

My photographic work focuses on the artists, crafters, musicians and small sustainable businesses who play an irreplaceable role in the health of communities. It has been featured in the Irish Times, the Guardian, CNN, the Sunday Business Post and the Independent, as well as being used in projects funded by Creative Ireland.

A long time ago in another lifetime I spent a few years getting a degree in Music, the study of which has guided how I’ve studied everything since. Also, I don’t think they let live in Clare unless you can play an instrument.