B (184)

50

B+W



Frank Browne: A Life Through the Lens

edited by David and Edwin Davison,

with an introduction by Colin Ford,

is published by Yale University Press,

price £30.

Self at Maison Prost hairdressers, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin.

“Now for a crash,” and I snapped my shutter.’

In 1926, after further adventures in

Germany and Australia, Browne settled

into a rather less eventful life as a Jesuit,

travelling all over Ireland to preach.

He used a camera everywhere he went,

photographing people, places and things

with an increasingly sophisticated,

observant – and often gently humorous –

eye. This prodigious output was probably

helped by the fact that, whether because of

the fame of his Titanic pictures or because

he often contributed to the Kodak magazine,

Kodak supplied him with constant free film.

Father Francis Browne is fated to be

best remembered for the unique and

unforgettable images he took during those

few days aboard the doomed Titanic. But

this new book shows he deserves a rather

wider place in photographic history. The

rediscovery and restoration of his huge

treasure trove of photographs is one of

the most satisfying results of today’s

increasing study and archiving of the

history of the medium.

The Customs Post at Muff, Co Donegal.

44-50_FRANK_BROWNE ER/MB.indd 5044-50_FRANK_BROWNE ER/MB.indd 50 27/02/2015 10:2627/02/2015 10:26