Archive of Modern Conflict

PhotoIreland has been actively acquiring publications for its collection since 2010, holding in its funds many of the books published by the Archive of Modern Conflict. For this extraordinary exhibition, AMC and PhotoIreland join forces to bring to Ireland for the first time over 60 titles from their extensive catalogue, drawn from both collections.

The Archive of Modern Conflict has been cultivated over several decades to become one of the world’s leading private collections dedicated to the collection and preservation of vernacular photographs, objects, artefacts, curiosities, and ephemera. Founded in 1991, the archive began as a collection of photographs relating to war and conflict but has since expanded its remit to become the vast and thematically diverse repository it is today. AMC is dedicated to an investigation of life through the photographic image.

The AMC began its own publishing imprint in 2007 with the book ‘Nein Onkel’, which won the Historical Photobook Award at Les Rencontres d’Arles that same year. Many subsequent publishing projects followed, each offering a glimpse into a fantastically eclectic and unique photographic collection that spans the history of the medium. The immense expanse of the archive’s holdings is constantly growing and developing, grounded by a tireless pursuit of the interesting, the exceptional, and the bizarre. The speculative project of the archive continues to expand alongside its collection, heading in an undefinable direction that is perhaps, as noted by Dublin’s author Brian Dillon, best thought of as “an incomplete, maybe interminable, species of research in itself.”

AMC has curated and participated in exhibitions worldwide in institutions such as the Tate Modern, Hayward Gallery, and The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada, and at events and fairs such as the Rencontres d’Arles, Brighton Photo Biennial, and Paris Photo. Their photobooks, published under the imprints AMC Books and more recently Bone Idle, have won or been shortlisted for prizes including PHotoESPAÑA Outstanding Publishing House of the Year, the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, Rencontre d’Arles Historical Book Prize, PHotoEspana Best Photography Book Prize, Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation Photobook Award, Kassel Festival Best Photobook, Dali International Photography Festival Best Book Award, and the New York Photo Fair Awards.

In addition to publications, AMC also runs AMC2, its journal, published with total freedom of frequency with the creativity that characterises the organisation, printed in a different format and with a different design every time.

Supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, the exhibition is presented during opening hours in the International Centre for the Image’s library, where visitors are invited to enjoy this remarkable collection until September 14th 2025.

Archive of Modern Conflict

Launch: 7pm 17 July 2025 exclusively for those who RSVP’d

Run: 18 July–14 September
Entry: Free
Opening hours: Monday–Sunday 10am–6pm

International Centre for the Image
Cultural Unit, Block 2, Coopers Cross,
Mayor Street Upper, Dublin 1
Ireland