Photography, femininity and leisure:
Augusta Crofton Dillon's photographic practice, 1865 to 1895.
Illustrated Talk by Dr Orla Fitzpatrick
Monday 31st January at 1.15pm in the Poddle Room, Printworks, Dublin Castle
Augusta Crofton Dillon seated outside the photograph house, Mote Park, Co.Roscommon, 1865, CLON21, Clonbrock Collection, National Library of Ireland
This informal illustrated talk will explore the photographic practice of Augusta Crofton Dillon (1839 - 1928) of Mote Park House, Roscommon and Clonbrock House, Ahascragh, Galway. Crofton was a talented amateur photographer. Her work is included in one of Ireland's finest photographic collections - the Clonbrock Collection at the National Library of Ireland - and is highly sought-after by private collectors worldwide.
Orla Fitzpatrick has an extensive knowledge of historical photographic practices in Ireland. In her research into Augusta Crofton's work she has examined a wide range of previously neglected source materials. In this talk, Fitzpatrick will draw on her close examination of Crofton's diaries and personal account books. They span a thirty-year period from 1865 to 1895 and reveal new insights into Crofton's experiments with the wet plate collodion process in the 1860s through to her adoption of later technologies and hand-held instant cameras.
Dr Orla Fitzpatrick is one of Ireland's leading photographic historians. She studied History of Design and Material Culture at the National College of Art & Design (NCAD) Dublin and has a PhD in photographic history from Belfast School of Art, Ulster University. She was born and lives in Dublin and has worked as a librarian in various cultural institutions including the National Library of Ireland's Photographic Archive. She teaches the history of photography and visual culture at NCAD and is the Librarian for the National Museum of Ireland.
Lost Ireland - Fitzpatrick's richly illustrated exploration of lost treasures of Irish architectural heritage - was published by Pavilion Books in 2021. She is the recipient of the Peter E. Palmquist Memorial Fund Grant from the Humboldt Area Foundation.
This talk is presented as part of In Our Own Image: Photography in Ireland 1839 to the Present - the first comprehensive historical and critical survey of photography in Ireland.
The launch exhibition in this year-long programme is on display at the Printworks, Dublin Castle until February 5th.
