Dunquin, Co Kerry, Ireland 1967, by John Walmsley
John Walmsley studied photography at Guildford School of Art between 1965-68. His final year project on A.S. Neill and his democratic school, Summerhill, was published by Penguin Books in 1969. John has always been a freelance photographer, working for textbook publishers, government departments and charities amongs others. Most of what he considers his best work was self-started and self-funded, including many books with the writer Leila Berg - making the work simply because it was interesting. For several years in the 1970s John was a Fellow of the Digswell Arts Trust, living with other artists and running public photography classes whilst also being a part-time lecturer at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London during its most vibrant period.
John's current exhibition ‘The 60s and 70s in B&W’ will be open at Guildford Museum from 2nd July to 10th September (closed Sundays) and covers the sit-in at Guildford School of Art, the Grosvenor Square anti-Vietnam war rally, the Liverpool Free School, Summerhill and much more.
To coincide with the exhibition, John is publishing a set of 26 postcards which are available from his website here: www.walmsleyblackandwhite.com
This photograph was taken in the summer of 1967 whilst I was hitching around the south-west of Ireland with a pal. We pitched our tent in a field and spent a morning walking around Dunquin, County Kerry. These kids came out of their house and I took three frames, of which this the best. Recently, the department of Irish Folklore at University College, Dublin, put me in touch with the Visitors’ Centre in Dunquin. I sent my photographs to the manager there who immediately said, "Those girls are my aunties!" Several people in the photographs taken that day have since been in touch and now have prints. Three sisters saw a photograph of their dad with his donkey cart, a photo they’d never seen before, and were delighted to have a copy.
See more work by John Walmsley
