Mona Lisa in a “Frenzy”

Leaving Certificate Examination, Higher Level Art Paper 2025

In 2025, Noel’s photograph Frenzy was selected for inclusion in Ireland’s Leaving Certificate Higher Level Art examination paper. For an Irish photographer, there is something particularly meaningful about seeing your work enter the classroom in your own country.

Noel’s image Frenzy will be referenced by students for years to come.

Students were invited not simply to look at the photograph, but to examine, interpret and respond to it — allowing the image to become part of a wider conversation about art, visual culture and the power of photographic storytelling.

Inclusion in a national examination is an unusual distinction for a contemporary photographer, and one that carries a significance beyond awards or publication. It gives the work an educational life, introducing it to thousands of students and allowing a single captured moment to become a source of discussion, analysis and learning. For Frenzy to have been chosen for that purpose, and to become part of Ireland’s national art education, is both a remarkable honour and a particularly proud moment in Noel’s photographic career.

Leaving Certificate Examination 2025

Art - Visual Studies - Higher Level

On a personal level, the experience has also made me reflect on where I want my photography to go next. Frenzy was created as a moment of observation — an image rooted in atmosphere, human behaviour and the unpredictability of a scene unfolding in front of the camera. Seeing it examined in an educational context has reinforced for me the importance of making work that invites questions rather than simply providing answers. It has encouraged me to trust images that contain ambiguity, emotion and layers of meaning, and to continue creating images that can hold a viewer's attention long after the initial moment has passed.

The questions posed to students:

A) Discuss this photograph using relevant art elements and design principles.

B) In your opinion, what is this photograph about? Justify your answer.

But what exactly is this image about - here is the story behind “Frenzy”.

I had been in Paris for three days attending a workshop and had always intended to visit the Mona Lisa before leaving. What I hadn’t realised was that I needed to book my ticket to the Louvre in advance. The last admission was at 5pm on the Friday afternoon and, already exhausted after three days of walking the city, I queued for almost two hours simply to get inside.

All I really wanted to do was see the Mona Lisa and leave. What I hadn’t anticipated was the journey through the museum to actually reach it. By the time I finally arrived at the room where Leonardo da Vinci’s painting hangs, I was completely exhausted.

I remember turning the corner and, if I’m truthful, feeling utterly disappointed. The Mona Lisa seemed so small and distant on the wall. And in front of it was this extraordinary frenzy of people — hundreds of visitors clamouring for position, phones held aloft, everyone trying to get a photograph or a selfie with one of the most famous paintings in the world. I had lost interest immediately.

I turned around, walked out and sat on a bench outside the room for about ten minutes, totally deflated, I was ready to leave. Then, as I started walking away, I stopped and thought: Hang on a minute. This whole scene is fantastic. This is the story.

I’m a documentary photographer. Rather than fight my way to the front and make the same photograph as everyone else, I went back and did what I often do — Step back and observe.

I had a 50mm Zeiss, manual focus lens on my camera, which was perfect for the shot I had in mind. I slowed down the shutter speed and holding the camera above my head with both hands, photographed the scene. I wanted to capture not simply the Mona Lisa, but the movement, energy and almost chaotic fascination surrounding it. I only shot a couple of frames and didn’t really appreciate what I had captured until I got home and started editing.

I gave it the title Frenzy, mirroring my thoughts at the time and the image has won multiple awards as well, of course as making it onto the education curriculum.

One my my most memorable moments, was receiving a message from one of my old teachers while away on a family holiday, June 2025, “McIntyre, you’ve made it…”

“Frenzy”as it appeared on the Leaving Certificate Paper 2025.