Nevill Johnson, British, 1911 - 1999
Title: Men at Bookstall, 1952-53
Date: 2002
Medium: Selenium-toned print
Dimensions:
Mount: 34.5 x 27 cm
Image: 25.5 x 18 cm
Credit Line: Purchased, 2019
Object Number: NGI.2019.33
DescriptionIn 1952, Nevill Johnson received a small grant from the Arts Council that enabled him to buy a second-hand Leica. Armed with his camera, and accompanied by his friend and artist, Anne Yeats, Johnson began work on a series of photographs of the people and places of the “real” Dublin of that time. This exploration lasted until 1953 and resulted in a photobook called Dublin: The People’s City. With over 1,500 photographs from this year-long journey through the streets of Dublin, the images of tenements, markets, shops and children’s street games, provide a valuable social record of the everyday lives of ordinary Dubliners at the time. The resulting negatives were purchased by RTÉ in 1979 and Nevill Johnson requested the collection be known as “The Johnson Collection”. During an interview in 1983 with Marian Finucane, Johnson described his photobook of Dublin as “a labour of love” and felt that it was necessary to document a changing Dublin. He also advocated for a “registered photo archivist” for all cities.
ProvenancePrivate collection, 2002-2018. Limited edition prints made from the original negatives in 2002.
Negatives purchased from the artist by Raidió Teilifís Éireann, 1979
Negatives purchased from the artist by Raidió Teilifís Éireann, 1979