BERNICE HARRISONON ALTERNATIVES TO MOVIES AND THE MALL
Bird’s eye views
It’s the final week of a photographic exhibition at the National Photographic Archive (Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin) that shows aerial views of some of our most famous landmarks. You can see what the Hill of Tara, for example, or the Cliffs of Moher look like from the air in the archive’s collection, which dates back to the early 20th century.
Exhibitions tend not to engage kids for too long, so make the archive your starting point. Go next door to see more contemporary pictures in the Gallery of Photography. Both exhibitions are free.
If you are there today, browse the brilliant weekly food market (above) in Meeting House Square (10am-4.30pm) and pick up a picnic at the huge variety of food stands, which sell everything from olives to pastries. The crepes are always a big hit. Even on days the market isn’t on, the square is a great place to sit and have a picnic or run around.
Give the kids disposable cameras (if they don’t already have ones of their own) and get them snapping to make a record of their day around Temple Bar. There’s plenty to shoot – all those aerial photos should have helped them see that things don’t have to be photographed face-on and that photographs don’t have to be of people to make them interesting. Once you have the photos developed, or printed, make an album – a copybook will do – to remember the outing.