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Elizabeth Kirwan
Curator
National Photographic Archive,
Historic Photography Collection
http://www.nli.ie/en/national-photographic-archive.aspx
What does your job entail day to day in a normal week?
Most of my day to day work is about managing a National cultural resource. This includes:
- Preservation of and enabling access to the NPA's collection of 5.2m photos.
- Housing, listing, cataloguing and digitisation of the NPA collections.
- Staff, volunteer and intern management.
- The NPA building and security.
- Overseeing NPA Reader Services including reprographics.
- Devising and implementing the NPA exhibition programme.
- Managing NPA external relationships: exhibitors, interns, volunteers, local authorities and most importantly, NPA collection Donors, and sponsors. I also promote the NPA through outreach activities including lectures, interviews, opening exhibitions, keynote international conference addresses, etc.
What are the roles of the key people around you?
- Preserving and securing the NPA collections.
- Rehousing, listing and cataloguing the NPA Collections.
- Running the NPA's Reader Services programme.
- Digitisation of NPA collections.
How do you decide what to collect?
It's outlined in the National Library of Ireland's Collection Development Policy.
See http://www.nli.ie/
Did you study photography or something else and how was it useful?
I have qualifications in history, philosophy, medieval iconography, gender and women's studies, librarianship, and management, and always keep up to date professionally. I've done a number of training courses in aspects of photography and in photo collection care.
What's the most interesting project that you have worked on and why?
The NPA's exhibition programme is to display four exhibitions annually. I enjoy the research, the opportunity to learn new things, to meet tight deadlines, the challenge of the resourcing issues, working with photographers, designers, mounters, installers, and media, and meeting the NPA gallery visitors.
What's the most interesting project that you have worked on and why?
The NPA's exhibition programme is to display four exhibitions annually. I enjoy the research, the opportunity to learn new things, to meet tight deadlines, the challenge of the resourcing issues, working with photographers, designers, mounters, installers, and media, and meeting the NPA gallery visitors.
What advice would you have for someone at school (16-18 ) interested in working in your area of photography?
Follow your dreams and live life fully. Be yourself and be forgiving Work on only what you're passionate about. Be totally committed to what you do Be open to learning, always.
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