Sunday, September 11, 2011

Looking back at the Children - Small Lives

I feel very lucky at times living in Dublin.  There are so many wonderful events happening here, one of which at the moment is the photographic exhibition showing at the National Photographic Archives in Temple Bar.

'Small Lives' is an exhibition of photographs drawn from the NLI’s collections, and range from formal studio portraits featuring children of the landed classes of the 1880s, to more candid shots of city kids taken in the 1960s.

After the Penguin Ireland workshop yesterday, myself and Niamh Boyce of Words A Day, called in for a look, and we were not disappointed.  Each of the photographs told a story, not just individually, but also as a reflection of their time and social backdrop.

It is easy to forget in these days of digital photography, that in the 1880's things were very different.  The studio shots for example required the subjects, (in these cases children) to remain absolutely still, the slightest movement causing a blurring of the image. 

Another aspect, is how few of them smiled, white teeth not being an aspect of the 1880's.  Photographs were not daily affairs are they are today, so great effort was put into getting them just right, the studio shots being reflective of the very elaborate attention given to creating a window into their past. 

This image, believe it or not is of a brother and sister, the girl given a doll to hold, the blond boy given a toy animal.

There are some amazing photographs at the exhibition, the one of the girls below although slightly damaged was one of my favourites, as it captures the friendship, excitement, and risk taking of the two girls seemingly daring each other to go further into the waves

The next image shows Violet Poole and her brother helping their father with some experimental photography.

All in all, it is an amazing exhibition, so get yourself in there and enjoy!

'Small Lives' runs from 25th August 2011 until June 2012.

Check out opening times, directions etc HERE


  1. You know, it makes no matter whether I was alive at a certain point or not--when I see photos from another era it invokes a deep nostalgia. I love these photos. You're fantastic.

  2. Some great photos shared ... thanks. Wish I was near enough to visit!

  3. Fascinating. I was dithering about popping in or not, but will make a point of doing so now. Thanks for the review Louise.

  4. I was thinking the same thing when I was up at the weekend at the Mountains to sea.

    So much cool stuff is happening in Dublin, am heading up there again next week so wil defo call in, thanks for letting me know about it Louise.

  5. Looking at these it's certainly easy to forget how different things were then. There's none of the stiffness we associate with those days. There's a formality, but a freshness with it.


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