Title
Children on Pavement, DublinDate1963
MediumGelatin silver print
Dimensions
27 x 37 cm
Credit LinePresented, 2019
Object numberNGI.2019.237
DescriptionDescribed as an "English Cartier-Bresson" by Lord Snowdon, Jane Bown started her photographic career in 1949 when her portrait of British philosopher and Nobel laureate, Bertrand Russell appeared in The Observer. Bown is admired for her straightforward, naturally posed, black and white portraits, usually taken with available light. She has photographed some of the world’s most notable actors, writers, artists and politicians including Samuel Beckett, Francis Bacon, Margaret Thatcher, and Queen Elizabeth II. In 1995 she was awarded a CBE for her outstanding contribution to photography. On a visit to Ireland in 1963, Bown stepped outside of the portraiture to catch people unawares. Here, we see two children huddled together playing on the pavement.