interview
deirdre donohue
assistant director of the miriam and ira d. wallach division of art, prints, and photographs at the new york public library and artist
new york, usa
How do you define your role in the photography world?
I don’t really think of myself that way, although when I came to New York Public Library, I would describe myself as a “recovering photo librarian,” and I live with a photography-based artist, I think of photography as one of many visual expressions that I am pleased and gratified to work with and know something about in my life as an art librarian.
Having said that, I think that the International Center of Photography diaspora, people that I worked with and met in my 15+ years there, are actually my tribe, and when I go places where they are, I feel safe and comfortable, which matters a lot nowadays. That is a universe that includes Magnum Foundation, Baxter St. Camera Club, Penumbra Foundation, Printed Matter, Grolier Club, NYPL, etc.
Why do you do what you do?
I am so grateful for my good fortune to be able to work as a public librarian. I love it, and it is exactly who I am. I feel like my work matters, and it provides me boundless opportunities to learn and share. I think I was made for that.
Where do you look at photographic work?
Everywhere. It is actually hard not to.
What is the most significant challenge facing contemporary photography today, and what is the greatest opportunity?
Its ubiquity and its accessibility are both a challenge and an opportunity.
When you look at the current state of photography, what, if anything, do you feel is missing from the conversation and the work being produced?
Its importance as a tool for education and to promote and advance social justice have always been what keeps me interested. I wish that was more foregrounded. Cornell Capa was creating that conversation half a century ago, and it should be the lead. I think that it is - at the Magnum Foundation, at the Bronx Documentary Center, at Salt, here at NYPL, and ICP, etc.
What advice would you offer to an “emerging” photographer who wants to get their work noticed?
Show up where photography is and engage with the welcoming community of practice and discourse.
How does the New York Public Library’s Division of Arts, Prints and Photographs approach the acquisition of new works and do you collect self-published books, zines, or other independent photo publications? If so, why is that important?
Our collections are vast and are informed by the combined knowledge of curators and librarians. Within our Division, artists’ books live in the Print Collection, including photographic artists’ books, and rare photobooks may be in the Photography Collection, where photographs themselves are collected, or in the stacks, making them available to consult in the Art & Architecture Reading Room seven days a week, and some photobooks are in every other Division of this library, depending upon their content. Example: Dayanita Singh’s Zakir Hussein book is in the Library of Performing Arts and many New York street photography books are in Local History. The Library’s Periodical Division collects zines and the General Research Division collects so much - self-published works, comics, etc.
What makes a photo book or print a significant work of art or a vital piece of a historical record and what are the biggest challenges in preserving and archiving them for future generations?
By now, so many photobooks are produced, I hope that someone will preserve one of each somewhere so that they are not forgotten. That is our role. The only reason that scholars can now look back and learn who the canon left out is because someone preserved traces of the outsiders. I think that is what we can do for the world.
In your role as a motivating force, how do you inspire communities of artists?
I hire motivated librarians and work with incredibly talented and wise librarians and curators to open our doors in many ways to anyone seeking information and inspiration. Our team has done class cycles aimed at artists in residence in NYC, for art teachers in NYC, for art lovers in the public, for community partners, and we host hundreds and hundreds of classes each year.
Can you name some projects by “emerging” photographers that have recently captured your attention.
Images:
Paola Fernanda’s recent exhibition at Penumbra Foundation
Qiana Mestrich at Baxter Street Camera Club
Books:
Martha Naranjo Sandoval’s new Mack book, Small Death
Ibi Ibrahim’s new book, Taipei
Alexey Yurenev’s new book, Seeing Against Seeing is a tour du force
Ximena Olazabal Rendón’s elegant How to Peel an Orange
[and that was just what I saw yesterday!]
Deirdre Donohue is the Assistant Director of the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs at The New York Public Library and an artist. She previously served as the Stephanie Shuman Director of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections at the International Center of Photography. She served as Graduate Faculty of both Pratt Institute’s School of Information and ICP/Bard’s Masters Program in Advanced Photographic Studies, as a founding Board Member of 10X10 Photobooks. She was proud to be asked to be the Guest Editor of Aperture’s Photobook Review 014 and serves on the Advisory Board of Penumbra Foundation.
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