Elinor Wiltshire captured spontaneous and touching moments in the day-to-day lives of Irish people, David Davison recalls the woman he knew whose work can be seen as part of the ‘Small Lives’ exhibition at the National Photographic Archive in Dublin
Elinor Wiltshire was born into a family rich in artistic heritage. Her broad interests encompass history, archaeology, botany, art and particularly photography. During the 1950s she met Reggie Wiltshire, a natural science student at TCD. Following graduation he and Elinor established The Green Studio at 118 St Stephen’s Green. The studio developed a reputation for commercial, architectural and art related photography. They went to Paris on honeymoon and there treated themselves to two expensive folio volumes of photographs by Henri Cartier Bresson. These brilliant images proved an inspiration to Elinor, for although she managed the business side of the studio she was enthused by documentary photography, mostly practised in Dublin but not to the exclusion of other locations.
Ireland’s most highly regarded architectural émigré is the subject of a new publication and a USA-based exhibition; Ellen Rowley looks at his legacy