Girls' Night: a new photobook looks at girlhood and adolescence in Ireland

"In the best tradition of documentary photography, the images resonate with subtext, whether that’s how much mobile phones feature or the emphasis on Instagram-ready looks."
Girls' Night: a new photobook looks at girlhood and adolescence in Ireland

Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "I wanted to focus on the nice times you have with your friends and the good memories"

As The Undertones memorably proclaimed: “Teenage dreams are hard to beat.”

While today’s teens might struggle to identify the iconic tune, many of them still dream — like previous generations did — of the first time they’ll venture out to a disco or club, taking their first tentative steps into adulthood.

For girls especially, it really is hard to beat that combination of anticipation and excitement fused with the simple joy of getting ready with your friends.

That ritual and all its attendant emotions is an inspired choice for Irish photographer Eimear Lynch’s first major project, Girls’ Night.

Her evocative images of teenage Irish girls preparing for their big night out have been compiled in a photobook, which was snapped up by a publisher and launched earlier this week as part of the prestigious Photo London event.

Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "I thought I would love to do something about teen discos, and then my friend suggested I should do something about getting ready for them."
Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "I thought I would love to do something about teen discos, and then my friend suggested I should do something about getting ready for them."

The 29-year-old, originally from Enniskerry, Wicklow, is now based in Brighton. She studied media at Maynooth University, but is largely self-taught as a photographer, garnering a lot of experience while working as a model booker for a Dublin agency.

She says the project was sparked by her reflections on her own teenage years. “The older I’m getting, the more I’m thinking about my own teenage years and how formative they actually are, which you don’t really think about at the time,” Lynch says.

“Also how special they are as well — just having those girl friends that you see every single day. I thought I would love to do something about teen discos, and then my friend suggested I should do something about getting ready for them. It’s something that only girls have access to,” says Lynch.

Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "I wanted to do a positive look on that time in your life. I didn’t want to include any photos of people kissing or anything like that — I took boys out of the equation."
Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "I wanted to do a positive look on that time in your life. I didn’t want to include any photos of people kissing or anything like that — I took boys out of the equation."

She travelled to homes and venues throughout Ireland, from Belfast and Dublin to Ennis and Cork, photographing teenage girls.

In the best tradition of documentary photography, the images resonate with subtext, whether that’s how much mobile phones feature or the emphasis on Instagram-ready looks.

However, for Lynch, the priority was to avoid the negative and capture the joy involved in getting ready and heading out. Indeed, there is a real pleasure in looking at the images and seeing a generation that has been under so much pressure, especially during the pandemic, just letting loose.

“I wanted to do a positive look on that time in your life. I didn’t want to include any photos of people kissing or anything like that — I took boys out of the equation. I wanted to focus on the nice times you have with your friends and the good memories. In some of the photos you can see other aspects, but my goal was to celebrate the good things,” Lynch adds.

“Everyone knows the stresses that come with being a teenager, but I feel like people don’t always talk about how amazing and exciting and fun it is.”

Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "With some of the older girls, the 16/17-year-olds, that’s when I saw more of the insecurities."
Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "With some of the older girls, the 16/17-year-olds, that’s when I saw more of the insecurities."

What also comes through is that wonderful blend of idealism and fierceness that teenage girls possess.

“Yes, you could feel that power. I think at that age, like 14/15, they’re so naive to the world yet so confident.

“It seems that they have everyone wrapped around their fingers. They just have such an ideal view of life, which is amazing. With some of the older girls, the 16/17-year-olds, that’s when I saw more of the insecurities.

“But the younger ones, they were just so excited to pretend to be a woman for a night.”

Lynch moved back in with her parents when working on the project, which brought her own teenage memories further to the surface.

“I felt like I was a teenager again — I was really jealous of the girls when they were in their bedrooms getting ready. I was thinking ‘I wish I was going out’, but then they were treating me like this old lady and I remembered that I’m actually double their age,” she laughs. 

Life inevitably teaches us that reality sometimes doesn’t live up to expectation, and this theme can also be seen in the anticipation jumping out from the page. 

“They weren’t even that excited to go, they just loved doing the make-up and getting photos taken, but didn’t really care that much about the actual disco,” Lynch says.

Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "They all use so many products and contour and do so many different looks. And they’re all really good at it."
Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "They all use so many products and contour and do so many different looks. And they’re all really good at it."

Something that has demonstrably changed, even since Lynch’s days of teen discos, is the effort that now goes into make-up. 

Readers of a certain age will recall a time when the most sophisticated routine consisted of a dab of panstick and Rimmel concealer, a clumsy application of pound-shop eyeshadow and mascara, topped off with a spritz of Impulse body spray.

“They all use so many products and contour and do so many different looks. And they’re all really good at it.

“Their tan is a lot better than mine was at that age, because we we were all using instant tan that would just come off in the rain. But when I was arriving to these girls’ houses, their tan was done the night before, then they wash it off and it was all quite nice. Whereas I would have just worn foundation and eyeliner.”

Lynch says she has been pleasantly surprised by the response to the photos, which have been championed by Irish designer Simone Rocha, who has also written a poem to accompany the images in the photobook.

“Initially when I had the idea, I thought that only girls would care about it — that Irish girls would think it was cool and nostalgic — but I didn’t realise that other people would find it interesting as well.” 

Her future plans include delving into the rituals of Irish girlhood even further.

“I have started working on my next book that’s going to be a broader look at teenage girls in Ireland. I have photographed Miss Ireland Teen, an Irish dancing feis, and I want to photograph communions and confirmations, for a book about growing up as a girl.”

Girls Night by Eimear Lynch
Girls Night by Eimear Lynch

Image from Girls Night by Eimear Lynch
Image from Girls Night by Eimear Lynch

Extract from Simone Rocha

Taney disco

Which I think was in a church – 

It was almost like going to church

The equivalent, a teenage rite of passage

How ironic to have all these teenagers in a church hall 

in short skirts, socks and runners looking for something...

from boys 

from girls 

from your parents

My first shift but I just wanted to slow dance

My head on his shoulder, him looking around

Disco lights in the church hall up a hill 

meet

shift

score

kiss

A baby blue and synthetic top with a strappy open back, 

Bought in St Stephen's Green shopping centre with tight black trousers with a flare and silver kitten heels from the Harlequin

Teenage bedrooms 

Ironing your hair flat on the ironing board, taking turns to do your friends 

To a backdrop of music videos on MTV on tiny TVs in bedrooms,

Little small ones in red which you could put a video tape in

Outside lining up against the wall in the dark in the queue

Then waiting for your friend’s parents to pick you up behind the petrol station

The best nights of your life

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