Gordon Brewster and Man on the Bridge

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Readers of this blog will know of my interest in the Man on the Bridge project and that I had submitted some photos to it.

One of these photos now figures on page 16 of the project's second book which has just been published.

It shows Gordon Brewster, his daughter Dolores and son Richard, on a Christmas shopping expedition in town in 1939.

This is the photo on its own.

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And this is the caption.

This is the second book in recent times in which Gordon has figured. The first is Judging WT Cosgrave by Michael Laffan,, which figured five of his cartoons and there is a third one on the way later this month, Mel Farrell's Party Politics in a New Democracy - The Irish Free State 1922-37, in which I understand at least one cartoon will figure.

Man on Bridge

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I have set out the background to, and my involvement in, the Man on the Bridge project in a separate posting.

The project organisers have now mounted an exhibition of ALL the photos submitted by the public, all 3,400 and more of them. This runs in the Gallery of Photography in Temple Bar until 8 January 2015. As I had submitted some photos I wanted very much to see the exhibition and see if I could find my photos in it.

First things first, so I signed the visitors' book on the way in (in case I forgot on the way out) and then left a comment on the way out as well.

These are the photos from 1930, when Arthur started out, to 1956.

And these are the continuation, covering from 1955 to 1977. Arthur is estimated to have taken well over 200,000 photos, but no negatives survive, and the current archive consists of prints from all over the country and beyond which have been submitted by the public in the course of the last year.

To be frank, I was a little sceptical of the organisers' claims to be displaying all of the 3.400 plus prints submitted and I doubted I'd be able to find the six prints I submitted myself and the one submitted by cousin Gerry.

How wrong I was. You can see the result above. All seven prints, as taken from various points in the exhibition's display and put together above for convenience.

There was a small alcove, almost like a side chapel, devoted to Arthur and his family. To the right of the big picture of him are smaller ones of himself and other family members.

To the left of the big picture, with a wall all to herself, is Doreen, Arthur's wife. She did all the backroom stuff as far as the photography was concerned. She developed and printed the films, sorted the prints, and lined them up for collection or posting. She also took care of the administration and finances. And she raised a family at the same time. Arthur was not involved as he spent all day, 365 days a year, in town taking photographs. So Doreen certainly deserves at least one wall to herself in this exhibition.

In his later years, Arthur took to Polaroid, and his camera, which can be seen in many photos of him on the bridge, is currently hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the exhibition.

The project has revolved around a documentary on Arthur, compiled by El Zorrero films, and screened recently by RTÉ. You can view it on the RTÉ player until 18 January. If I learn of any more permanent arrangements I'll post them here.

Abraham Feldman

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This is Abraham Feldman. He is Jewish and lived in Dublin, but you won't find him listed among the prominent members of the Dublin Jewish Community. He is not mentioned in Asher Benson's book, for example.

Yet he practiced his trade for 50 years in the city centre, in constant contact with the widest and most varied public imaginable. His output can be seen in hundreds, if not thousands of Dublin homes. But while people remember him, he remains anonymous.

In 1885 his parents had fled the Ukraine to escape the persecution of Jews then severe in that part of Europe.

He started with a box camera in the 1930s and, as you can see, later graduated to 35mm.

and eventually to Polaroid.

Now you get it.

He was Arthur Fields, the man on the bridge.

In a career stretching from the 1930s to the 1980s he is reputed to have taken almost 200,000 photographs.

But no negatives survive, and, of course, it's the people in the photos or their descendants who have the prints.

This inspired El Zorrero Films, who are making a film about Arthur, to attempt to compile an archive of his work, and of that of some of the other street photographers who plied their trade in the O'Connell St. area during that period.

So they have put out a call to the public to send in, or bring in, any street photographs they may have, along with as much information as they have about them. The intention is to include as many as possible of these in the archive as a tribute to Arthur and his colleagues.

I have sent in three photographs. The one above is of myself and my sister taken (I think) on O'Connell Bridge, or if not, at the Pillar, around 1950.

The second one is of the mother (Ellen) and daughter (Mai) of Alderman Patrick Medlar. This was taken in 1939/40 somewhere around the Carlton Cinema. Ellen was to die, aged 79, at her brother's funeral the following year, and Mai died, aged 90, in 2011.

The third is of my mother and myself taken in February 1945 on the west side of O'Connell Bridge, looking towards the GPO.

Scanning and storytelling in Raheny library

For those who were not in a position to scan photos themselves, the project has been going round some of Dublin's public libraries over the last weeks and scanning photos which people have been asked to bring along.

These are not just static photos as the project is also recording much of what is known about the subjects - background stories.

They were in Raheny on Monday (7/4/2014) and had their busiest day ever. People were queueing up right through the day and over 300 photos were scanned. Over 2,000 photos have been collected so far.

The last library scan day is on Saturday (12/4/2014) in the Central Library (Ilac Centre) between 10am and 5pm.

You can get more information about the project on this website and about Abraham Feldman, aka Arthur Fields, here.

Update - 12 April 2014
I'm including two additional photos below which have also been submitted.

The first is of some members of my school class, snapped outside Clery's in 1956/7. Ronan Murphy had a copy which he passed on to me and which I sent in. The second is of my cousin, Gerry Fleming, which he had the nerve to send in himself.

Coláiste Mhuire pupils who performed in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Feis in the Gate Theatre. Snapped at corner of Clery's on way to post-Feis treat. L-R (front row) Brian Ó Loinsigh, Cormac Ó Gráda, Colm Ó Muircheartaigh; (back row) Gearóid Ó Caomhánaigh, Seán Ó Catháin, Rónán Ó Murchú, Concubhar Bushe, Alan Diúic, Éamonn Ó hAirís. And Br. C. R. Ó Maitiú.

Brian Ó Loinsigh is the writer Brian Lynch and Alan Diúic is former Finance Minister Alan Dukes.

The second is of Fr. Gerry Fleming who was renowned for his Irish dancing skills and his four grandmothers.

Update - 2 August 2014
I will be giving a talk on Gordon Brewster, artist and cartoonist, in the National Library in November and in this connection I have been in touch with members of Gordon's family in England.

They have sent me some photos from the family album, two of which are street photos taken in O'Connell St., and I have submitted these to Man on Bridge.

Gordon with his daughter, Dolores, on the left and son, Richard, on the right, taken during a shopping expedition in 1939.

Gordon, on his own, probably taken around 1930.

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Links to the photos as they appear on Man On Bridge.

Mai & Granny 1939
Me & Mam 1945
Me & Martina 1950
Gerry 1950
Daltaí 1956
Gordon Brewster 1 1931?
Gordon Brewster 2 1939

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Two additional aspects which might be of interest:

I originally thought Abraham's birth certificate, was reported for civil registration by the synagogue, but I'm told that Ada Shillman was the community midwife, and now that I can read it, her listed qualification for reporting is "Present at birth", a common qualification for such.

Arthur with the Floosie in the background, taken from the Man on Bridge Facebook page.


Update - 19 May 2014

A further local aspect to this project was provided by the appearance of two of Arthur Fields's sons, David and Philiip, in Raheny library this morning where they filled in some family background for a small but highly interested audience. The family had lived at 602 Howth Road, Raheny.

Their stories were followed by a lively Q&A.

In response to a question, I gathered that, while he and all his siblings changed their names from Jewish to English versions, Arthur did not break off all connections with the Dublin Jewish Community nor did he depart from some of the traditions of his forbears.

I suspect that the name change, rather than being caused by any incident in this country, was a hangover of family memories from Kiev, from which the parents had been driven.

Dublin City Council's Aileen Doyle presented the brothers with momentos of the occasion.

The family photo album was then on show for any and all to inspect. Here Philip takes Joan Sharkey, from the Raheny Heritage Society, through it.