A Different Dublin: The 1960s Through The Lens

Amateur photographer Bill Hogan worked as a night projectionist in cinemas across Dublin in the 1960s. As a young man with a night job, he chose to wander the streets of Dublin during the day to use his camera to capture the emotional, moving moments and quirky glimpses into the everyday lives of the people of Dublin.

Photographs of young traveler girls feeding a baby from Guinness bottle on O’Connell bridge are juxtaposed against shots of children making a playground out of a vacant site on the corner of Buckingham Street Upper.

Signs protesting against the homeless situation that very much resemble the signs we see in rallies today. Women jostling for a bargain at the secondhand clothes market on Cumberland Street North do not look very different from those seen in Penney’s in the present day.

‘A Different Dublin’ is a nostalgic collection that show a Dublin that is familiar, despite the five decades that separate these photos from today.

“It was the way we were. And the way we were makes us what we are today.” – Bill Hogan

About the Author

From the ages of 15-24 years, Bill Hogan worked as a projectionist in cinemas across Dublin. During this time, he became particularly interested in photography and was inspired by French photographer, Henri Cartier Bresson. His particular talent was in observing people going about their ordinary lives. As he worked mostly at night in the cinema, Hogan was able to spend his time wandering the streets of Dublin during the day with his camera. This collection of candid shots of city life in Dublin in 1960s is the result.