The Irish Photographers 100

About this list. 74 profiles so far, more than seventy percent of the way to a full 100. Entries include Irish-born photographers working anywhere, and photographers of other origins with a substantial exhibiting or archival connection to Ireland — Northern Ireland included throughout, not as a separate category. Almost every entry's birth year comes from a source stating it outright; three exceptions — Mark Curran (from his 1991 university graduation), Mary McIntyre (her 1990 MFA) and Derek Speirs (a 1978–79 NCAD lecturing post) — have birth years inferred from a dated career milestone rather than stated directly, flagged as such in their bios rather than left out, given the strength of the rest of their record. The list leans toward photographers who are living and actively exhibiting, though a deliberate run of historically essential figures — several drawn from 19th- and 20th-century archives (Francis Browne, Arthur Fields, Fergus Bourke, Bill Doyle, Robert French, Elinor Wiltshire, E. Chambré Hardman, Augusta Caroline Crofton, Thomas Joseph Wynne, Margaret Allen, Colman Doyle, Edward Quinn, Robert Welch, Jane Shackleton, Joseph Cashman, Bob Carlos Clarke — Cork-born erotic and fashion photographer held by the National Portrait Gallery, John Burke — the first significant photographer of Afghanistan, Edward King-Tenison — an 1850s calotype pioneer licensed by Fox Talbot, and J.J. Clarke — whose 1897–1904 street photographs of Dublin are held by the National Library) — are kept in for the record, alongside Ross McDonnell and Chris Killip, both deceased photographers of real stature; Allen, Crofton and Wiltshire are also the list's first women, and Killip, Krass Clement, Markéta Luskačová, Toby Binder (whose 12-year Belfast project 'Wee Muckers' is a major body of work on Northern Ireland), Gilles Peress (twenty years documenting the Troubles), Don McCullin (whose 1971 Bogside photographs are held by Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland), Martin Parr (four decades of Ireland, 1979–2019), Chris Steele-Perkins ('The Troubles,' West Belfast and Derry from 1978), Philip Jones Griffiths (Northern Ireland from the mid-1960s), Evelyn Hofer (whose 1966 'Dublin: A Portrait,' made with V.S. Pritchett, is held by the National Gallery of Ireland) and Doug DuBois (five summers photographing teenagers in Cobh, Co. Cork, published as 'My Last Day at Seventeen') represent non-Irish photographers whose sustained bodies of work on Ireland earned their place. Strong candidates such as Enda Bowe, Ruth Medjber, Ros Kavanagh, Kate Nolan, Conor Horgan, Crispin Rodwell, Ellius Grace, Joanne O'Brien, Vukašin Nedeljković, David Creedon, Patrick Bolger, Enda Burke, Barry Delaney, Ricky Adam and Joan Kennelly (whose marriage year gives only a loose age range) were left out for now because a confirmed birth year couldn't be sourced; they're first in line if that turns up. Photographers who also appear on The Irish 100 (Willie Doherty, Paul Seawright, Richard Mosse) are included here too, since this list ranks them specifically as photographers. Images aren't embedded here — each entry links out to the photographer's gallery, museum or archive page, where you can see the work at proper resolution and with correct rights attribution. Exhibition dates were accurate as of late September 2026 and may since have closed.
See the companion list: The Irish 100 →
See the companion list: 40ish Under 40ish →