Dublin-born photographer Eamonn Doyle is a case in point for the advantage of sticking to what you know. Having long lived on Parnell Street in the Irish capital’s north inner city, the people he spotted around him were a natural solution when, after a break from photography, he returned to the form anew. “I wouldn’t call myself a street photographer, but I do photograph on the street a lot,” he told AnOther in 2014. “It’s a very broad term, but I tend to stick to a quite literal definition, so for me it is photography on the street, unmanipulated and completely unposed." The draw of the street came down to those he encountered walking through it, he continued. "The vast majority of people we observe or experience throughout our lives are usually in these public spaces. So I’m interested in these fleeting urban encounters, however brief they may be.”
Brief, yes, but impactful too – Doyle’s portraits of those he encounters are vibrant both in colour and in character, resonating in the mind of their viewer like a colourful flicker on the inside of an eyelid which remains long after one has looked away from a flame. His seminal photo book i, released some years ago, marked a new way of working for the photographer; inspired and influenced by the weary, pathos-laden and often difficult literature of fellow Irishman Samuel Beckett, he embarked upon a trilogy. Now, in End., he concludes the three-part work, celebrated both with a book, a graphic publication created in collaboration with artist Niall Sweeney, and with a show at London’s Michael Hoppen gallery – the first solo exhibition by the photographer to be held in the city.
Eamonn Doyle, End., runs until July 15, 2016 at Michael Hoppen Gallery, London.
