My creative career began in 1983 when, after leaving school, I joined Belfast engineering consultancy McGladdery and Partners as a trainee civil engineer. I had always been fascinated by architecture and building design and was convinced that this was the direction my career would take.

Photography, however, had already been part of my life for nearly a decade. My interest began when my mum gave me a Kodak Instamatic — yes the one with the four-sided flash cube — and it grew steadily from there. In 1986, I bought a Canon EOS 650 and began taking photography more seriously. I built a darkroom in the corner of my bedroom and spent countless evenings developing film and printing photographs from negatives I had shot earlier that day.

Around the same time, I began working as a freelance photographer for Cliftonville FC and later the Irish Football Association. Architecture, it seemed, could wait.

In 1989, I began working with Apple Macintosh computers and learning graphic design. For the first time, I could see a practical way to combine my interests in photography, typography and visual communication — and potentially build a business around them.

After several years developing my skills in Belfast design studios, I took the plunge and established my first company, D’stinct Graphics, in 1995. One of my earliest clients was the dance music publication Bassline, which I first designed in August of that year. The magazine later merged with another Belfast title, Blank, founded by Colin Murray (later of BBC R1 and C4 Countdown fame), to become BBM — Bassline and Blank Magazine. In 1999, it became the first local publication to win the prestigious IPR/BT Magazine of the Year Award.

During this period, I also enjoyed a parallel career as a club DJ, playing at Belfast venues including Vico’s, Shine, Network and Thompson’s Garage, as well as Savannah in Ibiza, alongside internationally recognised DJs including Mr. C and Pete Tong.

In 2006, I co-founded the design and advertising studio Manila Guerilla with my business partner, Mark Smith. The following year, the company became the first Northern Ireland-based design studio to win the McNaughton UK Design Award.

Over the next few years, my enthusiasm for photography was reignited. In late 2009, I left Manila Guerilla and established Push FotoGrafik, combining commercial photography with graphic design.

Working independently and in collaboration with other creative professionals, I produced photography and design work for clients including Ardmore Advertising, the BBC, Bank of Ireland, Belfast City Council, Belsonic, Chamber of Commerce Northern Ireland, Cliftonville FC, Concern Worldwide, Citybeat 96.7FM, Down Royal Racecourse, Grub, Mexx UK, Menarys Retail, MTV, Navigator Blue, Power NI, Sean Graham Bookmakers, Tennent’s NI, Ulster Business, Ulster Tatler, Ulster Weavers and the acclaimed British artist Wolfgang Buttress.

In 2013, I expanded into filmmaking under the name Cat Monkey Films. One of my earliest short productions, Ann & Harry: The Holiday, was screened at the Belfast Film Festival the following year.

By this stage, however, my career had begun to feel divided between separate disciplines and identities. In early 2015, I closed Push FotoGrafik and Cat Monkey Films and brought my three creative passions — graphic design, photography and film — together under one name: Walsh Visuals.

Since then, I have continued to develop both my creative practice and my project management skills, working across design, photography, filmmaking and visual storytelling. In 2022, I completed a Postgraduate qualification in Audio Visual Post Production at Queen’s University Belfast.

Today, Walsh Visuals reflects the full breadth of my experience. The work featured on this site brings together commercial commissions and personal projects across graphic design, photography and film. Although the disciplines may differ, the common thread has always been the same: using strong ideas and carefully crafted visuals to communicate clearly, tell stories and create work with lasting impact.

I am always interested in strengthening existing creative partnerships and developing new ones. If you have a project you would like to discuss, I would be delighted to hear from you.

All photography, film and graphics on this site belong to Michael Walsh and are protected under copyright law.

All photos are available for licencing. For further info, please click here.