Duffy’s Photography was developed in Swinford in 1912 by my great grandfather John Duffy. His son and my grandfather (also known as John Duffy) learned the trade; he was handed the camera and has since carried the name forward. From 1940 right up to his passing in 1989, my grandfathers work was a tribute to the “simpler” times as he travelled from town to town throughout east Mayo on bicycle. Inte
restingly, in those days too mass immigration was rampant in Ireland making the demand for passport photographs overwhelming; John stepped up to the mark. The Catholic Church also played an integral part in Mayo’s cultural and social activities, where many of the photographs ranged from Holy Communions to Weddings to social events including G.A.A. However, without the luxury of modern-day technology, photography was a very busy profession, and consumed much of John’s time as he developed and printed all of his own prints. Those beautiful moments that matter are gone in a ‘flash’. This collection is an early look at how technology attempts to preserve those moments through the lens of the camera and through the eyes of my grandfather. Duffy’s Photography attempts to transport you back to “the good old days”.
