Eamonn Doyle-Cedar Herald Index

Eamonn Doyle (born 1969) is an Irish photographer, electronic music producer, DJ, and owner/manager of the D1 Recordings record label. He has produced a number of records of his own music. His self-published photo-books include the trilogy i (2014), ON (2015) and End (2016), set in Dublin where he lives. He founded and ran the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival from 2001 to 2009.

Ian Maleney wrote in The Irish Times in 2015 that "D1 is considered one of the most important chapters in recent Irish music history". Martin Parr declared i "the best street photobook in a decade".

Eamonn Doyle

Early life and education

Doyle was born in Dublin. He studied commercial photography in Dún Laoghaire College of Art and Design (1988–1991).

Eamonn Doyle

Music

Doyle worked in the independent music business for 15 years. Around 1993 he and others set up a recording studio in the basement of the building he lived in at 147 Parnell Street in Dublin's north inner city. Some of that music was released on the Dead Elvis indie record label he co-founded and ran. Doyle became a DJ, then founded the techno record label D1 Recordings (named after the postcode it was located in) in 1994 which released music by artists from Dublin and elsewhere. D1 Recordings also ran a recording studio (d1), record shop and, eventually, a distribution company (Dublin Distribution) all in the same Parnell Street building. D1 also ran a weekly club night on Saturday nights for over a decade. The label resurfaced in 2018 in preparation for their 25th anniversary vinyl boxset release. Ian Maleney wrote in The Irish Times in 2015 that "D1 is considered one of the most important chapters in recent Irish music history". Doyle also set up two subsidiary labels called D1aspora [Distributed via Submerge in Detroit] and DublinLondon with UK electronic music producer Mark Broom.

Eamonn Doyle

Doyle produces and releases his own music through D1 Recordings and various other labels on 12" records and for download. He also produces music with Scott Logan as Active Service Unit.

Dublin Electronic Arts Festival

Doyle founded the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival (DEAF) in 2001 which he ran until 2009. The annual festival would take place over the course of nearly a week with events in venues across the city.

DEAF closed when both Arts Council funding and sponsorship money stopped due to the post-2008 Irish economic downturn.

Photography

Doyle returned to photography in 2008, making street photographs of people on Parnell Street and O'Connell Street. He produced a trilogy of self-published photo-books on Dublin that were well received.

i (2014) was inspired by Samuel Beckett. Doyle's subjects were elderly working-class people photographed "from above, as if looming over them while they went about their daily business." Martin Parr declared it "the best street photobook in a decade". In ON (2015) "the location remains the same – Parnell Street and O’Connell Street in Dublin – but, this time, the subjects are younger and more varied in terms of ethnicity. Whereas i evoked an almost timeless Dublin, On shows a markedly contemporary city, where people stride purposefully onward, intent on their destination rather than their journey." End (2016) concluded the trilogy. K (2018) was made at the western Atlantic edge of Ireland.

Publications

Photography books by Doyle

State Visit. Dublin: Self-published / D1, 2013. i. Dublin: Self-published / D1, 2014. Edition of 750 copies. ON. Dublin: Self-published / D1, 2015. . Edition of 999 copies (333 in each colour). End. Dublin: Self-published / D1, 2016. Photographs by Doyle, drawings by Niall Sweeney and ambient soundtrack by David Donohoe. . 13 sections and a 7" vinyl record, housed in a slipcase. Edition of 1000 copies. K. Dublin: Self-published / D1, 2018. Photographs by Doyle, music by David Donohoe. Includes a 10" vinyl record. Edition of 1000 copies. Made In Dublin. London: Thames & Hudson, 2019. Photographs by Doyle, text by Kevin Barry. Eamonn Doyle. RM/Fundación Mapfre, 2020. Photographs by Doyle, text by Sweeney, David Donohoe, Bob Quinn, Lisa Godson. O. Self-published / D1, 2020. Edition of 250 copies. .