I set up curator.ie in 2010 as a vehicle for innovative freelance curatorial projects with a strong public engagement component and collaborative ethos. Since then I’ve specialised in bringing long-forgotten or overlooked photographic archives/collections into the public domain, usually through exhibitions curated in partnership with arts and heritage organisations. Along the way I curated several landmark projects that have transformed the history of social documentary photography in Ireland.

Things change and I have spent 2026 re-orientating my work to a more personal engagement with what it means to be a curator. As a consequence, the emphasis is more so on personal content creation instead of project management on behalf clients. Working in the gig economy has a relentless energy around project development, funding cycles and delivery and, as a consequence, the quirkier elements often get left behind – like rushes in the boggy field or, given the work I do,  the out-takes on the cutting room floor.

It’s time to look again at some of these stories … and have some fun with them.

A head and shoulder self portrait of curator Ciarán Walsh shot on quarter plate glass negative with high gloss black background that creates a positive from a wet colloidal negative, also known as an ambrotype. The shot required an exposure time of 17 seconds, so Ciarán Walsh stares at camera. The photo is is black and white but keeps the silver toning typical of the process. The design is based on a mock up of lantern slides used by Alfred Cort Haddon in the 1890s.