The wide ranging series looks at photographs of ‘Places’, ‘Work’, ‘Events’ and ‘People’ taken by professional and amateur photographers and is presented by distinguished photographer, Professor Paul Seawright, who was appointed Head of the new Department of Photography at the University of Uister Art College campus last year.
Professor Seawright explains: “Photography’s uniqueness has always been its ability to accurately describe the world we live in, the people we know, the places we’ve been.
“For the Victorians, photography was a magical and realistic window to a world they had only ever read about or seen in drawings. The photograph has maintained the power to transport us to places and events in our past. It helps us shape history and catch a glimpse of who we were, where we came from and how we lived.
It’s important to understand that photography was not only used in Northern Ireland to photograph ship building but documented almost every aspect of life, from the circus coming to town, the imprisoning of suffragettes to local men and women embarking on artic expeditions and missionary journeys from our shores. Photography is important because our past is important.”
The series broadcast many photographs never seen in public before, from
images of prisoners held in the jails of the north in the 1890s to identity
pictures held in asylum records.
One of the most remarkable images from the series is that of a boat, Ian
Kirk-Smith, series producer and director, explains: “It dates from
1858 and was taken by Dr David Walker, an Ulsterman on board ‘The Fox’,
one of the most famous ships in the history of polar exploration.
The ship was significant as its crew discovered the remains of the long lost expedition of Sir John Franklin, who set out in search of the North West Passage and never returned. One hundred and thirty men died. It is an amazing photograph of the ship stuck in the ice, taken at that time and in the most difficult of conditions.”