Zheng Min, nurse manager, Dublin 2021

Jialin Long

Jialin Long, Zheng Min, nurse manager, Dublin 2021

About the Artist:

Jialin Long was born in Beijing and came to Ireland to study for a Masters in Electronic Engineering in 2006. After working seven years as an engineer in an Irish firm, Jialin made a swift career change in 2014. She took a PLC photography course at Pearse College and went on to graduate with first-class honours from IADT, winning a Gallery of Photography Ireland Graduate Award in 2020. In 2020 she was awarded a Creative Ireland & Dublin City Council Diversity Commission. For this Public Art Commission curated by Gallery of Photography Ireland and presented in 2021, Jialin wanted to challenge the stereotyping of the Chinese community in Ireland. In her work, she focused particularly on how the association of Chinese people with restaurants and takeaways inhibits a more nuanced understanding. She collaborated actively with those she photographed to build a deeper and more expressive series of portraits of this diverse but under-represented ethnic community.

Details: Archival pigment inkjet print on Hahnemühle Photo Baryta, 42x59.4cm (paper size), uneditioned print, produced 2021, acquired for the National Photography Collection 2022.


About the National Photography Collection:

The National Photography Collection builds on the Gallery’s sustained commitment to supporting artists in the development and promotion of their work. Through collaboration, we hope to grow the collection as an archive repository offering an overview of photographic practice in Ireland.

As an essential critical and historical resource, the National Photography Collection is an exciting initiative for the Gallery and for the future of Irish photography. We are deeply honoured that the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins has agreed to be Patron of the Collection.

The artists featured in the Collection are:
Ciarán Óg Arnold; Enda Bowe; Noel Bowler; Ala Buisir; Simon Burch; Dorje de Burgh; Krass Clement; Shia Conlon; Martin Cregg; Mark Curran; Ciaran Dunbar; John Duncan; Tessy Ehiguese; David Farrell; Kevin Fox; Paul Gaffney; Clare Gallagher; Emer Gillespie; Karl Grimes; Anthony Haughey; Seán Hillen; Patrick Hogan; Tobi Isaac-Irein; Dragana Jurišić; Jamin Keogh; Jialin Long; Markéta Luskačová; Shane Lynam; Alen MacWeeney; Dara McGrath; Moira McIver; Yvette Monahan; Tony Murray; Brian Newman; Kate Nolan; Miriam O'Connor; Kenneth O'Halloran; Mandy O'Neill; Tony O'Shea; Pete Smyth; Nigel Swann; Harry Thuillier Jr; George Voronov and Róisín White.