Mother's Day Presents

If you are flummoxed by what to get Mammy for this year’s Mother’s Day, Irish Photo Archive’s collection of fine art prints and iconic images from Irish history will inspire and delight.

If your mother was a rock chick in her day, she’ll love our collection of Rolling Stones images. These photos remained unseen until the recent release of the Charlie is My Darling documentary. Jagger, Richards and co. are captured just as ‘Satisfaction’ is at No. 1, a vital time in the storyline of the band. 

Or perhaps your mother was one of the lucky few to see the Beatles perform at their only gig in Ireland in 1963. The boys were in playful mood at Dublin Airport when they arrived to play the gig.

Maybe your mother was more the type to queue up to catch a glimpse of JFK or the Pope as they arrived in Ireland for a visit. Or if she is a homebird and spent her life in one small county of Ireland, why not transport her down memory lane with a print of her local town without SUVs lining the footpaths.

Then she will look as happy as Princess Grace does here when Albert brings her a rose during a stay at Carlton House in Maynooth.

Just like a rolling stone

At first the thought occurred that most Dubliners might have viewed the Rolling Stones as a fossil best left to archeologists, and the result of their excavations to be put on display in a museum rather than an art gallery.

Andy Farron, Sean Walsh and Susan Kennedy at the Zozimus exhibition

The few who gathered early at Gallery Zozimus, 56 Francis Street, Dublin seemed just as interested in the magnificent array of art works stored there as they did in the evening's feature exhibition, the Rolling Stones Centenary Exhibition 'Charlie is my Darling’. By the night's end the spartan crowd was a heaving mass, their numbers more suited to a rock concert than an art exhibition. And none were complaining that they could get no satisfaction.

The group, even with photos taken as far back as 1965, was still a crowd puller. The editor of Hotpress Magazine, Niall Stoked opened the exhibition, revealing his admiration for the Stones while admitting that he had been a Beatles fan. He outlined how the Stones brought the music of black Harlem to white Dublin at a time when the cultural melting pot was not as cosmopolitan as it is in today's multicultural climes. Susan Kennedy the current director of Lensmen which created the images five decades ago took the floor after Niall and warmly thanked all who had made the event possible. She singled out the original Lensmen pioneer Andy Farron whose attendance prompted a warm round of applause.

Susan Kennedy and Sean Walsh with an image from the Zozimus  exhibition

This specialized Lensmen Collection will remain on display continue at the Zozimus until Saturday 23rd March next. If you were not there last night, there is still time. Don't be left a fool to cry. Make an evening of it and spend a night together in the illustrious company of one of the world's renowned rock groups. 

purchase prints @ Irish Photo Archive

Digitizing the Archive

A highly readable blog post by Sarah Jacobs  details the work of Lensmen photographic agency, much of which involves digitizing a substantial archive containing over two million images.

Jacobs asks:

When you’ve acquired an historic archive with over 2 million images that includes The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and JFK, where do you begin when it comes to digitizing, securing, uploading, distributing and marketing the work?


With the help of Susan Kennedy and Sean Walsh, owners of this remarkable archive, Sarah Jacobs guides her reader through the history and current work of the enterprise.

Susan Kennedy and Sean Walsh 

Amongst recent highpoints in the company’s evolution was what Susan Kennedy described as ‘a highly successful red carpet film première of Charlie is my darling.’ Shortly after this event Taoiseach Enda Kenny launched the Lensmen book, The 1950s: Ireland in Pictures.