Man on the Bridge: The Photos of Arthur Fields

Born Abraham Feldman in 1901, Arthur Fields was from a Ukrainian Jewish family who fled anti-Semitism. From the 1930s to the 1980s, he stood on Dublin’s O’Connell Bridge taking photographs of the city that passed before him in dapper suits, mini-skirts, mohawks and mullets: meeting first loves, proudly showing off firstborns, laughing with friends. In the background, O’Connell Street and the world changed. Nelson’s Pillar disappeared; the golden arches of McDonalds materialised. Arthur captured a remarkable record of life over the course of half a century. Although he took thousands of photos, no negatives survive. Ciaran Deeney and David Clarke launched the Man on the Bridge project to crowd-source Arthur’s photos and create an alternative photographic archive of Dublin city, culminating in an acclaimed book.