"Rediscovering Father Browne" Lecture by Edwin Davison

Davison will tell the story of how Father Browne's 42,000 photographic negatives were forgotten for decades after the photographer’s death. When discovered in the Jesuit Province Archives in Dublin, they were deteriorating badly. In 1988, David Davison, a leading photographic technician in Ireland, undertook the project to conserve the photographs, assisted by his son Edwin. Subsequently, Edwin Davison catalogued the material and became caretaker of Father Browne’s photographic oeuvre. He will share his memories of the dramatic rediscovery, and his unfolding knowledge of these historical images. He will also discuss his thoughts about sharing these images with an American audience, their inclusion in the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art exhibition, and the Museum’s permanent collection of photographs by Father Browne, the largest holding in the United States.