National Photography Archive

Ireland's National Photography Archive is without doubt one of Dublin's hidden gems.  I tend to get to most exhibitions they put on but I know the vast majority of people don't even know about it, or at least the majority of people I mention it to don't.

The current exhibition is called Small Lives and runs until June 2012.  From their website; "The 50 photographs in this exhibition are drawn from across NLI’s collections, and range from formal studio portraits featuring children of the landed classes taken in the 1880s to more candid shots of city kids taken in the 1960s".

It is striking how many of the images include some kind of religious (i.e. cathloic) theme or event but I guess this is hardly surprising given how big a part it played in the lives of the Irish in past decades.

So whether you are a visitor to the fair city, or a Dub like myself, I highly recommend taking a look see.  It is right in Temple Bar, across the square from the Gallery of Photography who themselves often have great exhibitions.  Both are small spaces so you can get around the two in under an hour if you needed to, of course you could spend longer.