As part of IMMA Outdoors and its series of IMMA Nights events, we invite photographic historian Orla Fitzpatrick for a in-gallery talk of the current exhibition, Influence and Identity: Twentieth Century Portrait Photography from the Bank of America Collection.

Orla will explore and respond to the exhibition, highlighting a variety of her favourite works. The exhibition features classic portraits of glamorous and famous historical figures (Marlene Dietrich, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Muhammad Ali and John F. Kennedy) by iconic photographers such as Berenice Abbott, Richard Avedon, Edward Steichen and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Orla’s selection will also include 1970s and 1980s mavericks such as Peter Hujar, Shigeo Anzai, Marc Pokempner and Judith Golden whose work reflects societal changes and artistic and subcultural figures. The exhibition incorporates a wide range of photographic processes and the impact of these upon the look and mood of images which will be discussed by Orla during the talk. Studio portraits of celebrities in the inexpensive and mass-produced carte-de-visite format, popular in the 1860s, provide an interesting counterpoint to the other portraits found elsewhere in the exhibition.

Following this talk join us for free Music in Courtyard, curated by Best in Fest: Yankari Afrobeat Collective.