Contributed by Orla Fitzpatrick
Seán Sexton’s collection of over 20,000 images spans the history of photography. Sexton’s collection includes all formats, genres and processes, from early salt-paper negatives and once-off daguerreotypes through to snapshots and spy cameras.
Much of Sexton’s collection comprises photographs taken by members of the Irish landed gentry. The gentry were early adopters of photography, having the necessary time, money and education to undertake the practice. Sexton’s prized acquisition is the work of Augusta Caroline Crofton (later Lady Clonbrock, wife of 4th Baron Clonbrock, Luke Gerald Dillon). Born in Mote Park, County Roscommon in 1839 (the year photography was invented), Crofton’s images stand out as providing a thoughtful portrayal of the gentry world.
Created using the difficult wet plate collodion process, the extent of her photography is astounding for its range and technical ability. Sexton highlights Augusta Crofton’s work as well as that of Robert Shaw and Christine Chichester for particular praise, noting that Irish photographers were influential during this early wave of amateur practice.
Seán Sexton’s family history came from the parish of Kilmurray Ibrickane, in Mullagh, County Clare. Built in 1846 during the Great Famine, the Sexton paternal family home is a direct trace to this traumatic period in Irish history. Seán’s mother’s family were small farmers from Miltown Malbay, just six miles from Kilmurray Ibrickane. Seán’s grandfather and his brother spent time in New York before returning to live in Milltown.
The Sexton farm was small, comprising fifty acres of good land where all their food was grown. Seán’s father ploughed the land himself with a horse and a plough. Second oldest of seven boys, Seán recalls the children walking three and a half miles to school without shoes each day. Seán’s childhood was shaped by the strong influence of his mother, who ran the household with skill and dedication. His father was a quiet man, and Seán never saw his parents argue, which was a testament to their harmonious relationship.
At the age of 17, Seán became the only sibling to emigrate, leaving Ireland for London in the mid-1960s when work was scarce in Ireland. He found lodging at 261 Royal College Street in Camden. His first job was stacking shelves in a Camden Town supermarket, before taking on seasonal work picking potatoes. Seán took on various jobs, including strenuous physical labour on the railways in Surrey, where he cycled 30 miles each way to work.
This work was gruelling, involving the maintenance of railway tracks and the heavy lifting of caked gravel and stones. Seán also worked with Murphy Builders, driving and labouring on construction sites. On a visit home in the 1960s, Seán took a pick and shovel to dig a drain and bring running water into the family home for the first time — a small comfort for his mother during her final days.
Seán’s parents passed away within a year of each other. His father passed in 1966, and his mother in 1967.
A turning point in Seán’s career came in 1973 when a friend, Mick Madden, introduced Seán to the world of photography. Seán began attending auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, where fine art photography was just beginning to gain recognition. With a keen eye for artistic photographs, Seán started collecting and trading, gradually building his expertise.
Despite having no formal education in the arts, Seán’s natural talent and dedication led him to become the leading expert on the Irish archival photographic collections. Though he didn’t have a lot of money to begin with, his ability to spot the market potential of photographs, and the purchase and resale of non-Irish photographs, allowed him to build up reserves and fund his Irish collection.
One such example is the work of the English gardener and photographer Charles Jones, whose photographs of prize vegetables dating from 1900 were bought by Sexton at Bermondsey market in London. These were then sold on at a considerable profit as the beautiful gelatin silver prints were much sought after by interior designers, chefs and foodies.
Throughout his life, Seán experienced the challenges of being Irish in England, including facing discrimination and exclusion. Despite this, he has always identified strongly with his Irish roots, never considering himself British. Although he is not fluent, Seán can speak Irish, a connection to his heritage that he holds dear, as his identity remains deeply tied to the land of his ancestors.
In 1978, Seán married a woman from Galway, and together they had a daughter who now lives back in Ireland.
Seán’s greatest regret is that his mother didn’t use her Kodak Brownie to photograph life as it really was on the family farm in County Clare. Instead, she drew water from the well to bathe her children in a tin tub, dressed them up and took snapshots to impress their relatives in America.