Online collection reveals Shaw the photographer

By Emily Beament

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

THOUSANDS of photographs from a collection belonging to Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw are to be made available to the public online.

The photographs include pictures of film stars such as Vivien Leigh, writers HG Wells and JM Barrie, and political and social figures of Shaw’s time including MP Lady Nancy Astor.

Shaw, who died 60 years ago, was a keen photographer and about 70% of the photographs in the collection were taken by the Irish playwright and critic, while others feature him – including press shots and pictures taken on movie sets.

The National Trust said the largely unseen collection of about 20,000 photographic objects, including prints, negatives and albums, shed light on Shaw’s life and times.

The Trust, which owns much of the archive, is working with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), which Shaw was involved in founding, to conserve, catalogue and put the pictures online.

The collection of photographs has been housed within the archives division at LSE since 1979, but funding has only become available recently for the project which will allow the public to see the pictures.

Several hundred images are online, with plans for about two-thirds of the collection to be available for the public to see by the time the project is completed in summer 2011.

Fiona Hall, National Trust curator for the East of England, said: "For me the most interesting aspect revealed in the collection is the contrast between ‘GBS’ the public figure and "Bernard Shaw" the man.

"The shots of ‘GBS’ the celebrity show him unsmiling, dressed smartly and holding a prop such as a cane. More intimate shots show him relaxed, surfing, picnicking, and striking poses from famous sculptures, including Rodin’s Thinker."

She said there were even some shots of Shaw naked, taken on the beach by his wife or dramatist Harley Granville Barker.

The collection, which includes images of Ireland, spans from the 1890s to additions after Shaw’s death, with most images dating from between 1890 and 1930.

* The first images can be viewed at www.lse.ac.uk/library/shawphotos

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, September 08, 2010