In 2010 Irish-born, US-based collector Dr David Kronn pledged his photography collection to IMMA. This year Dr Kronn will present IMMA with the fourth donation from his growing collection, currently numbering over 1000 works. This latest gift will bring the total number of works donated to IMMA to nearly 200 photographs. 

The David Kronn Collection comprises many rich seams of practice, from insightful examples of international 20th century photography, views of nature and wilderness, to works exploring topics of childhood, (Dr Kronn is a Medical Geneticist who specialises in early onset genetic disorders), diverse geographies, and communities of cultural and socio-political nuance, that traverse themes of gender, marginalisation, and post-colonialism.  

The present donation includes a diverse selection of works, ranging from 19th Century to the present day, by modernist photographers such as André Kertész, Irving Penn, Berenice Abbott, Brett Weston, Mike Disfarmer and Martine Franck, as well as contemporary works by Nicolai Howalt & Trine Søndergaard, and Doug DuBois. The selection further explores themes of childhood with works by Rosalind Fox Solomon, and Martin Munkácsi among others; images of celebrity and the gaze by Bettina Rheims and Herb Ritts, and of human impact on the environment by Richard Misrach and Robert Glenn Ketchum. 

Since 2011 IMMA has held three exhibitions of the David Kronn Collection – Out of the Dark Room, Second Sight and Northern Light, showcasing over 300 works. Each exhibition was accompanied by publications with critical texts by guest contributors such as Getty Center curator Virginia Heckert; Dr Susan Bright; Carol Squiers, curator at the International Center of Photography, New York; and Pauline Vermare, formerly cultural Director of Magnum Photos, New York. 

This Collection presents IMMA with unique access to a reservoir of classic international photography as well as an opportunity to build a critically significant representation of contemporary Irish photographic practice. David Kronn’s ambition is to support IMMA in establishing a world-class national and international photographic collection. He also generously supports a variety of photographic institutions, festivals, and events in Ireland such as The Irish Museum of Photography, Photo Ireland, the National Gallery and the Butler Gallery.