46
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I
n 1867, when the pope of the time, Leo
XIII, wrote his Ars Photographica, a
poem in praise of photography, the world
had known about photography for less
than 30 years. The poem – and perhaps
its suggestion of a papal endorsement- may at least have partly inspired the
Roman Catholic Bishop of Cloyne, in
southern Ireland, to give his 17-year-old
orphaned nephew, Francis (Frank) Browne,
a box camera. The year was 1897, and such
relatively portable cameras had been on the
market for less than a decade.
When the 18-year-old Frank set off, with
an elder brother, on a grand European tour
a year later, he naturally took his camera
with him. He seems to have taken every
opportunity to study artworks in the places
he visited as well as after the tour, when he
spent some time in London.
He then returned to Italy for three years
to study art in Venice and Florence – two
cities absolutely crammed with masterpieces
of painting, drawing and sculpture. The
very large number of fine photographs in
a new book, Frank Browne: A Life Through
the Lens, featuring his extensive imagery,
demonstrates that he learned lessons from
the Old Masters.
Had Frank not felt a vocational call to be
a member of the Society of Jesus (a Jesuit
order), he might well have taken up the then
relatively new profession of photojournalism
(photographs could not be reproduced in
newspapers until the 1880s). Despite the
fact that he seems to have had to abandon
photography for two or three years after
he became a Jesuit novice, he soon showed
considerable skill at compiling detailed
reports of events in pictures and words. He
also seemed to have that vital qualification
for a successful journalist – the ability to be
in the right place at the right time.Right Self-portrait reading the National
Geographic near Brittas, Co Dublin.
Below Mending the road, Gillingham, Norfolk.44-50_FRANK_BROWNE ER/MB.indd 4644-50_FRANK_BROWNE ER/MB.indd 46 27/02/2015 10:2627/02/2015 10:26