The story of Ireland from 1916 to 2015 told through the faces of its people
President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins will officially launch the new exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland-Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks, Dublin 7
On Thursday evening 20th April 2017 at the National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins will officially launch a new exhibition Portrait of a Century- Photographs by Kim Haughton.
Portrait of a Century is a photographic exhibition of one hundred images of people who are threaded together through a shared language, culture and nationhood. Presented for the first time in its entirety, each photograph represents the birth year of the person in it and the series as a whole spans a one hundred year time frame from 1916 to 2015. The exhibition is a photographic representation of a nation reflected in those who have shaped it in some way.
Between 2015 and 2016, photographer Kim Haughton sought out people who had a connection to Ireland. Starting with Ken Whitaker, born in 1916 during the rumblings of rebellion to Máire Mhac an tSaoi whose birth in 1922 coincided with the creation of the new state, she trained her lens on familiar faces of people who are woven into the fabric of the Irish arts as well as sporting legends, presidents, public servants, private citizens, pioneering women, dazzling young people and the children of the future to create this visual time capsule of a nation in transition.
Portrait of a Century is based on the subject of Ireland’s centenary, and follows on from the enormously successful Proclaiming a Republic: The 1916 Rising exhibition, which opened to the public in March 2016 and is ongoing. It underlines the National Museum of Ireland’s commitment to telling the stories behind Irish men, women and children of the past century while simultaneously underlining the institution’s emphasis on the power of contemporary art and design to interpret those stories in an accessible yet moving way.
Kim Haughton is an Irish photographer based in New York. She completed her MA at London University of the Arts. In 2015 she was named as an Irish photographer to watch by TIME magazine who described her work as ‘at once sparse and textured’. She spent the early part of her career as a photo journalist covering post conflict humanitarian issues around the globe. Her work has been exhibited in London, New York, Oslo and Dublin. Her images have been included in publications worldwide, including The Financial Times, Der Spiegel and Vanity Fair. Her work is held in the National Archives of Ireland.
Judging of the annual Press Photographers Association of Ireland (PPAI) ‘Press Photographer of the Year Awards 2017 took place this weekend, with almost 1,800 images submitted into this year s competition, by members of the PPAI from right around the country. This year marks the association s 39th annual awards.
Open to members of the Press Photographers Association of Ireland, the awards reward and celebrate the very best of Irish press photography. The awards run across nine categories; news, daily life & people, nature & the environment, politics, sports action, sports feature, portrait, art & entertainment and reportage, as well as the overall title of the Press Photographers Association of Ireland ‘Press Photographer of the Year 2017 . This year also saw the addition of a special award for an outstanding black and white image, as well as an award for video.
This year s judges included Dermot O Shea, former picture editor of The Irish Times, who again chaired the panel; Sophie Batterbury, Picture Editor of i + Johnston Press and Tom Lawlor, international photographer and broadcaster.
Michael Chester, President, Press Photographers Association of Ireland, said: “The Press Photographers Association of Ireland is the representative body for press photographers in Ireland and our annual awards is the pinnacle of our association s calendar. Not only do the awards recognise the outstanding talents of our members, but they also promote the craft of press photography in Ireland and mark its importance in Irish society.
The winners of the ‘Press Photographer of the Year Awards 2017 will be announced at a ceremony in Dublin on 27th January 2017. The winning images will form the ‘Press Photographer of the Year Exhibition 2017, which will tour selected venues around the country throughout the year.