Fashion, film and portrait photographer Táine King is a star on the rise. I caught up with the Monaghan-born talent at the launch of EPOCH, a short film showcasing her photoshoot for the striking Charles Yakob label. She was commissioned by Marion Cuddy, who stocks the label in her Irish Designers Emporium in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre.
“I came in and looked at the collection and fell in love with it,” King told me. “There’s a real strength and power to it – it’s almost like armour.” She was determined to do something “really different.” The result was the arresting and darkly glamorous EPOCH, shot back in August in the underground carpark of her studio in Smithfield Square. King’s model, Rachel Quinn, sports a close-cropped, lime green haircut – an aesthetic befitting of King’s Stranger Things obsession. “I love the short haircut and the power which was in a very quiet person,” King explains. “I wanted that vulnerable but strong kind of character.” The subversive strength of Polina Yokobson’s Charles Yokob line is undeniable. Initially, King had envisioned a different kind of insubordination. She had planned to feature an older woman with long grey hair, someone “with a story in their face”. Sourcing such a model in Ireland proved difficult, which led her to discover Quinn, who was “fantastic.” The photographer revealed that she would consider this shoot one of her favourites.
King was interested in photography from her childhood. She started out shooting landscapes on film before studying print, multimedia and photography in college. After college, she started her own business but was mostly doing portraits and weddings. “It just wasn’t what I wanted to do,” she confessed. “I grew up looking at images in my auntie’s Vogue magazines, I’d look at them for hours…there was just always something in me that wanted to do fashion and I never thought that I could or that I’d be good enough.” The challenges of the recession offered King the opportunity to begin anew. She closed her business and went to London, where she interned and assisted for other photographers. She moved back to Ireland, working in the film industry as a stills photographer. Film is a big influence on her work and she likes to shoot and use lights cinematically. This means that her sets are constantly lit, rather than relying on flash.
For the past four years, she has been teaching and working her way into shooting fashion. Her determination is paying off – she was nominated for Photographer of the Year at the Irish Innovation Awards this year and was featured in i-D Magazine’s “Team Work makes Dream Work” editorial. She has also worked at London Fashion Week and photographed front of house for designers like Gareth Pugh and Pam Hogg. Still, being an Irish fashion photographer isn’t easy. In her speech at the EPOCH launch, King acknowledged the pressure put upon Irish creatives to move overseas. The idea that Irish people have to move to succeed creatively still persists – but King isn’t buying it. She’s lived in London and travelled to countless other cities but for her, Dublin still comes out on top. According to King, the perceived problem with the Irish creative industries isn’t about the creatives themselves so much as other industries refusing to hire them. Instead, photographers are often flown in from the U.S. and the U.K. King’s frustration is understandable: “the photographers are amazing and lovely – but you have photographers in Ireland [too]- start supporting them!” She expresses the hope that people will soon begin to take the Irish fashion industry seriously. For that to happen, King says, we need to give Irish designers a bigger platform. She praises Cuddy’s championing of local talent- but more needs to be done. “We don’t have a Fashion Council, we don’t have a proper Fashion Week. It’s ridiculous- we’re a really cosmopolitan, creative, innovative city- we should have those things!”
And not much has changed since she began seriously shooting fashion four years ago. In Ireland, clients seem to be notoriously reluctant to give creatives the resources necessary to realise their vision. King recalls often being asked to reduce costs and cut parts of her idea. “You go to London, you’re not asked that… in Ireland, it’s like trying to get blood out of a stone,” she says. It’s particularly unfortunate because King sees some amazing talent in this country which is so often being exported and sent overseas “where it’s appreciated and paid for better.” She is clear that this needs to change. Many of King’s inspirations are Irish. She particularly admires the photographer Alex Hutchinson’s keen eye for beauty. She also praises designers such as Polina Yokobson, Derek Lawlor, Margaret O’Connor and Natalie B. Coleman.
Another challenge is the way in which the entire industry is quickly becoming digitized. King acknowledges the “really good” print publications taking off in Ireland but recognizes that print is generally struggling: “everything’s so digital at the minute. Everyone’s so content aware, they want to see it fast, quickly and it’s gone.” Rather than lamenting over past glory days, King uses digitization as key for success. She’s on every social media outlet going and particularly likes Instagram, where she can “get a visual idea of photographers and designers very quickly.” She has a great respect for the power of print, but is clear that it must be used alongside an effective website. In her work with MFI, for example, she sees the magazine as being a special extra of the brand, which also has an up-to-date and easily accessible website.
King’s positive attitude and ability to adapt is crucial in a diverse industry which has seen her work for clients like the IFI and Ryanair, and photograph celebrities such as Nicole Scherzinger and Andrea Bocelli. She has a true passion for what she does. “My job is fantastic,” she tells me. “It’s challenging but you get to meet and work with amazing people – so it’s not really work!” Her photography is proof of the exceptional creative talent in Ireland today – one that, we hope, will soon be given the recognition it deserves.
Images courtesy of Táine King.
