Eoin Greally: ‘My work is all about my Irishness, my queerness and my interest in people’

From rural Galway to the streets of London, was a career in art something you always aspired to?

In a way! I never saw it being photography. I was always more interested in fashion and that world way more than art. I used photography as a vessel into the fashion world and somewhere along the way, my interests totally flipped, and I realised that taking photos and telling stories was my real passion and art form.

Were you always taking photos growing up? When did you begin to see photography as a skill and craft to hone, study and work on?

I used to take photos from when I was about 12 on my phone and my mam’s first digital camera (which I broke). I took photos of my sister and when she wouldn’t let me, I used to take photos of her dolls, just to figure out how to shoot a subject. But it was my secondary school art teacher Helena Cunniffe who first took an interest in my photography.

I never really knew what my medium was in art class, and it used to drive both me and her mad because I was constantly flip flopping between every possible craft and even though I knew I was creative, I was sort of shite at everything until I found photography. When she first saw my photos, she made me base every project from then on it. She saw immediately that it was my area somehow. She’s a big reason I saw it as an area I could actually work in.

How would you describe your work and the way it’s evolved over the years?

I think my work is all about my interest in people, my Irishness and my queerness. That has definitely changed over the years. I used to just care about it being a cool fashion image but now it’s changed as my practice has developed. I still like both directions but for now, if I had to boil down my work into a few words, I would want them to be tenderness, warmth, honesty, identity and genuine connection.

You’ve worked with massive names like Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham and Robyn Lynch — what has that experience been like?

It’s always been so exciting to work with people I’ve looked up to and to get the chance to treat them like any subject or collaborator. That has always been my tactic when I work with someone who could make me nervous. When I took photos of Kate Moss, I just acted the exact same as if I was taking photos of my dad, and that’s why I still like the images.

What has your experience been working with Jameson Selects and photographing these incredible Irish musicians?

It’s been such a fun series to be a fly on the wall for! I think seeing all the different types of music that are coming out of Ireland has been the highlight for me. We’re in such a cool moment in Irish music so I’m so grateful to Jameson for highlighting it. It was so fabulous to be a small part of it!