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AS A 16-YEAR-OLD walking through Dublin’s inner city in the autumn of 1982, German exchange student David Jazay fell in love.
Not with a Dublin cailín, but with the city itself. Specifically, with the Liffey quays.
He had also recently discovered photography and was struck with an idea that would meld the two. Unbeknownst to him, he would continue to work on that project for decades.
With incredible foresight for a teenager, Jazay knew that the city’s heart would be unrecognisable in a few years.
“It was such a unique era in time,” he told TheJournal.ie from his Berlin home. “Just before the buildings were torn down or completely made over. It was obvious it was going to change soon.”
As he strolled along the quays on a Sunday morning in October, Jazay said he realised “all these marks or undeveloped or derelict places” would not feature in an inner city in Germany.
To him though, it wasn’t bleak. It was beautiful.
“It was like a big adventure playground,” he recalls. “It was exciting. It gave me a sense of white space and colour schemes that were visually very stunning…especially for a continental European.”
More than 30 years later, Jazay is ready to exhibit some of the work that he produced as a result of those teenage musings.
“I became attached to the area and after I studied film in Munich, I returned each year [for a decade] to continue the project. With each visit, the photos got better and better.”
It was only this year that the computer technology caught up with his obsession of photographing every single detail of a particular structure. As a result of improvements in computer image processing technology, he was able to turn his fine-grained medium format negatives into high-resolution panoramas with huge levels of detail.
The result – large, composite images – allow the the view to experience the city, exactly how it was in the 1980s and early 1990s.
His panoramas capture the entire Liffey quays before redevelopment to ensure “new generations experience the Dublin of that pivotal era, now largely lost to visual memory”.
A statement on his website is appropriate to quote on this Bloomsday weekend.
Much like in that famous quote attributed to Joyce “… if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed …(from his Ulysses)”, I too had the madness and the ambition to photograph every building under threat of demolition, document what I could of the last cornershops, antique furniture businesses and auction houses along the Liffey.
I concentrated on Georgian architectural ensembles (still posessing grandeur in dilapidation) and the poor but lively Inner City neighbourhoods: shopkeepers, marketers, children playing in the streets, local characters.
This whole microcosm would irrevocably change a few years later, in the boom years of the Celtic Tiger.
Now, after 30 years, I am able to realise my vision (unattainable with solely chemical photographic technique), of re-constructing a memory of Dublin’s Inner City in the pre-boom years – and to bring back this vision to the place that inspired it.
At the end of the 1980s, Jazay made a film about the area and became involved in discussions about what should become of the quays.
He says he wanted to portray the inner city as “alive” and not a derelict space.
“I had this vision of beauty, grand architectural heritage and a face of the city that was only appreciated by very few people.”
He explains that caring about the architectural heritage at that stage in the ’80s was an “exotic concern” given the grave economic problems.
That vision he had as a 16-year-old has now come to life. He says the little sketches he made back in 1982 are “pretty close” to what his full Dublin Before The Tiger exhibition will be.
Through his images, he wants to show the way of life that is now gone, recreating time and space in a myriad of ways. He focuses on the corner shops that are no longer trading, the family businesses that were cherished and the auction houses that were numerous in the area.
“At that time in history, the buildings were very rich in layers. You could see the origin in the Georgian buildings, and then the additions and the repairs. The signs of people living there for centuries.
“They are a rich, layer-cake of history.”
He says he has shown the images to people who never saw Dublin during this period and they could not name the city.
They thought the images were “very exotic”, he added.
While the images you see here are scaled down, Jazay imagines them being shown as large, immersive prints at an exhibition.
He wants them to be printed in large sizes – at least 2×6 metres.
“What you can’t see in the web images, is the amazing level of detail,” he explains.
The artist wants people to be able to stand in front of the images and “take in the architectural detail, see where each shop and sign was, discover the very fabric and the marks left on the buildings”.
He will be in return to Dublin in July for the PhotoIreland Festival, hoping to drum up interest in exhibiting the work.
His ideal location for the event would be a non gallery space, such as a disused building.
“The response so far has been really good,” he says. “Maybe it’s the right time – after the boom, after the crash. There is an awareness of what has happened.”
The presence of traditional techniques and businesses has also struck a chord, given the resurgence in small enterprises recently.
And, does he still love Dublin?
Yes. He never came back during the so-called Celtic Tiger but he had “heard stories”.
“So when I came back after a 20-year hiatus, I wasn’t shocked or surprised. But, compared to what it could have been, I still liked the quays and the new boardwalks. It’s nice to have less traffic and more people.
“Of course, it would have been good to see more of the buildings kept but it is still immensely lively and the basic heights of the buildings have remained.
“I also like the modern aspects of Dublin – the open society, the multiculturalism. I still love the city and look forward to coming back.”
To see more, check out David Jazay’s website.
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Signage tradition has all but disappeared which is a real shame. Spar and the like get away with murder with their tacky shopfronts.
Those photos display a wonderful authenticity that we can only appreciate now with the benefit of hindsight. Sometimes the past feels like a better time and a simpler place. Whether that is the experience for each individual is a different story I suppose.
Nicely said! :)
Every one will see something different in a photo depending on their life experience. Where you see a simpler happier life someone who was homeless at that time will see a nightmare. It’s called constructivism. We all see the world thorough different coloured lenses depending on the environment we experienced life in
Nostalgia and sentimentality has alot to answer for lol.
Nope, people still are better off nowadays!
Imagine if we had no corruption. We’d have our fishing waters, our oil and gas, a developed rich farmland and an efficient local government. Our currency would be ours and strong. We’d be way ahead of where we would be now and have no debt. We would have cheap fuel and energy. Our water would be one of the best in the world.
We’d have an excellent education system, health system and plenty of jobs in all sectors. Everyone would have opportunity. We’d have very few social lifers and low crime.
Imagine if we had no corruption.
Why would our water be any better? What countries have a better water supply than us?
And that is what we call utopia masked with non sense falacy!
John Lennon
Smash the elites.
#rhetoric
Those pictures show the Dublin we need to rebuild. The quaint shopfronts and architecture are the heart of the Joycean/Georgian theme that can make Dublin great again.
Time to obliterate all the ‘modernist’ architectural mistakes and recreate something special that people want to visit and locals want to shop in. No more mega-malls, fastfood chains, mobile phone repair streets, Liberty Halls, Central Banks, ESB offices.
Dublin looked like a rundown kip in 1991.
Some modern buildings look great. I love the “Italian” street off the quays. Those Ulster bank buildings near Tara street look great as does most of the IFSC and the national convention centre looks beautiful.
A combination of old and new can look great.
Dublin was a horrible kip in the 80s.
Equally there’s no point reverting to pastiche of some Dublin that never really existed. Avoiding soulless malls is fine but let’s also avoid any pseudo-Georgian “revival”.
It still is.
yeah you think junkie problem was bad now??? back then it was worse. best thing we can do with dublin is knock most of it. parts of it are modern and beautiful from the ifsc to the o2 is wonderful same goes for across on sir john rogersons.
the like of Moore street, parnell street are absolute eye sores as is liberty hall. When i chat to people visiting Ireland i instruct them that if they come too Ireland do one day only in dublin and get the hell out. its filthy its dirty, go to belfast, wicklow, galway, clare, cork, kerry, waterford and throw in newgrange before they go. that’s it.
They would be bored with your instructions. I like to travel around West Cork and Kerry at least once a year, but I do love your Capital. What you say I totally disagree. I look forward to my next trip to Dublin. Anyone I speak to that travel over for a weekend love it. And return over and over. It’s one city I never get bored with.
The junkie problem wasnt as bad at all! Now there’s dealers and junkies on EVERY street in the city centre. In the 80s and 90s you could walk up Dawson st, O’connell st,Grafton st and through Temple Bar and not see a junkie. There’s no escaping them now plus we are over run with Roma pickpockets now. Our own obviously werent bad enough so we imported them by the thousands and gave then housing and passports!
Your comments are great, you’re like the Daily Mail, Star and Sun combined in human form. While I acknowledge there is a serious drug problem in Dublin the streets aren’t as riddled with addicts as some seem to believe.
Up Wickla’
drug problem inner city streets was nowhere as bad then and also the people in general were friendlier. its become like london now, too diverse and stuck up.
My first trip to Dublin was in1992. It was a very different place back then. Friendlier people yes. But I do like the buzz about the city today. All cities have drug problems, it’s not unique to Dublin. One thing the city council should do is close all those clinics down in central Dublin. Give the addicts methadone from the local chemists in the area they live. That way they wont be meeting up on the same street each day. Why they get a free travel pass is crazy. Junkies in London wont get that.
Grew up in Stoneybatter and those photos bring back some wonderful memories. Being brought to Martin and Joyce’s butchers and Downings grocers on a Saturday morning, then walking over the bridge and up to Meath St to the Bazaar for a pair of runners or tracksuit bottoms. Thankfully I never got dragged to the Ellis barbers for a 50p skinhead!! The stick ye’d get in school on a Monday morning! “Where’s ye get yer hair cut? The mad Ellis?” Strange seeing the Ormonde Multimedia Centre too, many a good night had there in the ’90s. We may not have had much growing up around there back then, but we were all happy. Has regeneration made us any happier? I don’t think it has.
Luckily roland the tracksuits and runners remain – now with added hoodies. Ah those were the days… i remember the tenements around the inner city with families living on top of one another.. ah i fondly remember carrying the family ‘bucket’ down 3 flights of stairs to the one outside toilet for the building.. i remember me and my four brothers in the one small room until our mid-teens – you can’t beat the closeness and bonding we all had. I remember the filth of the inner city and the dilapidated buildings – all fond memories scavenging with my mates for merriment… i remember my dad out every day looking for work and getting a bit here and there – those were the days at least we were all together. #smashtheelites
Although now-adays there’s rent supplement, fuel allowance and child benefit, unemployment assistance and retraining – but where;s the heart #dublinintherareaulnostalgictimes *sniff.
Very well said. I grew up in dominick street our playground was the old decaying buildings in the area. From Parnell Square to capel street o we had fun.
If it wasn’t for Fianna Fáil we’d still be stuck in the 80s. At least no one can deny that.
If it wasn’t for EU funding and opening up our trade opportunities we’d be stuck in the 80s
Th EU is great.
EU funding, are you crazy. The EU have benefited so much more financially from Ireland than the other way round. Up to €600 Billion taking out of Irish waters since 1973 when you handed over your fishing grounds to Brussels. Don’t be fooled to think you done well.
I honestly don’t have words to comment on the utter stupidity of that remark so I’ll say nothing
Dizzy!!
Thanks to Fianna Fail we actually are back in the 80s
Shane – agreed
Interesting!
the EU got well fed out of it, well fed. our produce is gold and still is, they still want more of it, every last drop.
Really? You really think that EU makes tons of money of your resources? Where do you think you live? In a diamond mine town in Tanzania?
So if you had those numerous resources why was the economy so bad before the celtic tiger? Ireland has been incredibly smart with establishing the preferential company tax rates…that has brought lots of tech companies which have invested here and had made the crisis not as hard.
You obviously have no idea of how EU works at all…
I don’t think Ana, we know!!!! Read the link, educate yourself. Your home countries fishermen do very well from Irish waters……..
Where was the spanish economy before and after the celtic tiger? not much change was there?
The Celtic Tiger also had nothing to do with Tech industry. It was booming long before Google and Facebooks, theyre only 9 years old anyway. The EU bought our resources, they are sought after. Our beef is the best in the world, our agriculture is the best in the world and our waters have been fished to death by impostors, worse if we’d have no Navy. Sorry now to break that to you.
The city has become hostile in a way over the past couple of decades, mind you the satellite towns are no different. 15 years you would say hello to everyone you passed by in my town, if you were to do so today you would be made out to be a lunatic. Our culture is fading and no one seems to care.
Grocery shops that where you could pay for your stuff without fear of being asked whether you have a loyalty card or want to donate to save hearing-impaired bats. Those must have been the days.
Back then you would not be asked for a loyalty card and goods were priced at a sufficiently high level to ensure a good wage for the working man… multinationals come in now and destroy the unions and working man.. long begone the days.
Mr Downing, auld Tom. An absolute gent and a great character.
Absolutely one of natures gentlemen !
No mention of the Red Corner Shop….
Mentioned every five minutes on 253 Radio Dublin…
http://cf.broadsheet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/1980s-red-corner-dublin-public-libraries-2.jpg
RCS was owned by my Grandfather’s Brother. I was born in Mountjoy Sq . Dublin was rundown but there was character about the place unlike today. Sad really.
Horrible horrible flashbacks – now I know why I drink! Dublin in the 80s was like walking through Berlin in 1945
Is that your excuse :)
Actually Kingstown, I feel Dublin has lost its sense of community since the fake Celtic tiger period. People looked out for each other back then, they shared what little they had. Nowadays it all “keeping up with the Joneses”. Gimme the old days anyday.
Tell that to the guy that owned the hairdressing shop in the photo it looks like Fort Knox.
I bet you like that song by Gladys Knight. Memories
@Kingstown why have you not got involved in the wonderful nostalgia? Dublin back then may have been unsafe to visit; dereliction and rotten housing, no inward investment, the northwall was a wasteland, heroin at epidemic levels – but you know what we were happy and although we had a monoculture no competition in any form – we were happy… the working man could get a break.
Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.
Dirty ‘oul town…..
Is that NAMA’s portfolio ?
kip ;)
Love them
Shame Dublin is now about either a carjacking or a murder every week
Galway is the place for a drunken fight.
Unfortunately today Dublin has been deliberately turned into nothing more than an out of city shopping center- a run down one at this stage. Red brick suited the city, but now all we have is this white stone and concrete that looks depressing in the rain, and is invariably filthy. Red brick hid a wealth of dirt. White stone looks great in Spain or in architects 3d computer models but IMHO doesn’t suit Dublin. Generally I don’t think DCC or the Govt care a toss about the city. It’s character has been lost for good at this stage.
The Docklands may look modern to some but it could be any city. To me it’s just bland, lifeless and depressing. Especially when you consider how great it could gave been.
i can’t see the difference with 30 years ago
Most of those building no longer exist……..
Dublin has always been full of T Leaves nothing has changed even with the Celtic Tiger.
They are one being joined by Romanian thieves.
The foot paths are still the same s–t 3rd world as compared to the UK
When they opened that umbrella manufacturers they thought it would always have a market in the Irish climate.
Look at the metal security on the hairdressing shop nothing has changed in 30 years or so.
You’re a tool. Though I presume you always have been. No change there so.
Markova, look up J.J. Sheehy, traditional sign writer on U tube. Thanks for appreciating the tradition of sign writing – a true craft. :)
Once a kip always a kip
Fantastic input. You should be proud.
I was born and raised in Dublin City. 75 years of my life I have spent here. I am fortunate to have been able to visit many places in Europe, Africa, Middle East,North and South America. For me, Dublin and Ireland are very nice places to have a life. It is good that people care enough to complain about what is wrong. We must balance our views by considering what is right.
Having grown up in the “good old times” I would not have any desire to revisit the 50s,60,70,80, or some of the 90,s. Dublin is a much better place to-day than back then.
A walk through any city in the world reveals what you are looking for.
I had forgotten how badly run down the city centre was in the late 80′s and early 90′s. Ok some of the regeneration could have been done a lot better. Like the borg cube on Dame street between city hall and the AIB bank. But no doubt in 100 years there will be some arguing for the preservation of these buildings. How they are an important part of out heritage. Blaa blaa.
When we talk about Modern building. We should try to remember that once the GPO, City Hall etc were all considered modern. In fact I think I remember reading an article about the Custom House and how people of Dublin rioted because of its design. At the time of its construction.
loved the 80s in ireland
I think the kid in the pictures is Keith graham from st Mary’s place. He moved to the gloster diamond. And sadly he went on drugs
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