Fantasy Island, the latest publication from Rotten Books—founders of Rotmag, a magazine-come-collage of sorts that features one of my favourite mag covers (issue 02)— is somewhat of an oxymoron. It’s a tome (over 300 pages featuring 70 different Irish photographers), but also contains intimate photography from the wonderful Isle. I sat down with Rotten Books founders (Joel Seawright and Lucy Jackson) and a select few artists involved to tell me more about Fantasy Island and what it means to be Irish.
Rotten Books
What was the catalyst for this book?
Lucy Jackson (co-founder of Rotten Books): Joel and I felt like it was the perfect time to hit pause on Rotten Magazine and throw ourselves into something bigger, which led us to start Rotten Books. Making something like Fantasy Island was an idea that I suggested to Joel when we first met—one of those things you talk about, then forget, thinking it’ll probably never happen. But the more we sat with it, the more we realised it had real potential to grow into something meaningful.
How did you go about selecting the artists involved with the book? And is there anyone you were exceptionally excited about?
LJ: We began by exploring the wide variety of photographers coming out of Ireland, looking closely at both established, familiar and new names that came through our open submission. In total, we considered over 250 Irish photographers for this project. From there, we curated a list that feels both rooted and unforgettable—artists who are shaping the future of photography on their own terms.
We were especially excited to have Brendan Murphy involved. His iconic 1975 portrait sets the perfect tone to open the book.
What do you hope to show through Fantasy Island?
Joel Seawright (co-founder of Rotten Books): The idea behind Fantasy Island was to create a fictional dreamscape, an idealised version of Ireland in the minds of those who are from here. It’s an imagined place, created by people’s real desires, nostalgia, and fears. I suppose it’s meant to capture a sentiment or attitude, rather than an actual place.
LJ: The curation process was about creating a space where multiple perspectives and moods could coexist.
Why the notebook format?
LJ: We chose the notebook format because we wanted the book to feel personal, tactile, and approachable; something people could carry, leaf through, and return to over time. It reflects the idea of an ongoing conversation rather than a finished statement. It felt like the right fit for a project that’s about capturing a moment in Ireland that’s still unfolding.
JS: Design-wise it was based on what I’d call a ‘modern interpretation’ of these old, Irish literature books that I’ve actually been collecting. They’re mostly small, green, cloth-bound, with a delicate illustration on the front.
What’s next?
JS: We are hoping to continue expanding Rotten Books, publishing titles we really care about. We have a few publications already in the works that we’re very excited about, but we want to take our time to get them right.
Ricky Adam
How does Irish heritage seep into your work?
The Belfast punk photos featured in ‘Fantasy Island’ were taken during the late 1990’s / early 2000’s in a venue called the ‘Warzone Centre’. As a young punk my friends and I practically lived there. It was a home from home complete with a surrogate family of nonconformists and outsiders.Punk, since its inception has and continues to play a role in Irish heritage. Rebellion has always been a fierce driving force politically on the island of Ireland and I view punk as an extension of this. Punk is defiant and raises a middle finger firmly in the face of violence, bigotry, sexism and sectarianism. A fearless thing to do, especially in the north of Ireland. The majority of people who went to punk gigs back then had grown up during the dark days of what was known as ‘The Troubles’. The centre was a collectively driven, free-thinking space that challenged convention and offered people the chance to create and express themselves through the medium of music and the arts. Crucially, it gave people, regardless of their gender, religion, or political stance, the ability to be part of something bigger than themselves.
What are you shooting with?
I like a small camera that I can fit into a pocket. For the past fifteen or so years I’ve been using a wee Ricoh GR which is perfectly suited to the projects I’ve been working on. I think I’m on my fifth one at this point. It was a welcome change after years of doing magazine work – carrying around a huge back pack stuffed with multiple flash guns & lenses. The Belfast punk photos featured in the book were shot on an old Nikon film camera which I used for years.
Wally Cassidy
How does Irish heritage seep into your work?
Both my parents were Irish but I was born in the UK at the very start of the Troubles and we moved back to Dublin in ’75 because the Irish were not so popular.. I was put straight into the Christians Brothers in Crumlin where the “teacher” would hit me with a leather strap for having a Brummie accent, shouting and frothing at the mouth “I will beat the english out of ya!”. I got it from both sides and I struggled to fit in. I picked up the camera in ’89 as the end of the Troubles was in sight, so every Saturday I would head into town to document the marches on O’Connell St. It was either Sinn Fein, Dessie Ellis or the Birmingham 6 with marching bands from the North.
What are you shooting with?
My first camera was, like most people start with, was a Zenit, then onto the Pentax K1000, I took the shot of Sinead with that and the first and only time to use a 50mm, but most of the shots in my book ‘The Other Half Lives’ were taken on a Minolta XE5 and a 28mm.
About 15 years ago my good mate John Kelly, the man that showed me the ropes to documentary photography, got a condition called Myasthenia Gravis, which weakened muscles on one side of his face and body. So the eye he uses for the camera was not the best. At the time he had two Leica’s so I bought his M6 body and got myself a Voigtlander Ultron f1.9 28mm which I now carry with me daily but I’m no longer shooting at the pace i did when i was younger, one roll a week if I’m lucky. At first it was the ‘red badge’ on the Leica that attracted me to it, but after using it for a short time I can honestly say it fits your hand like a glove, it was made for the streets. I also use a Sony A6400 with a Sigma 16mm f1.4 for social media. There are plenty of events in London to keep me busy like the Palestinian marches that can attract over 100k people. I can take 100’s of images with that camera.
Rich Gilligan
How does Irish heritage seep into your work?
It’s embedded in my DNA so even if I tried to ignore it my core sensibilities have been engrained by my formative years of growing up in Dublin.
What are you shooting with?
In general, I work with lots of different cameras and a mix of film & digital but everything that’s part of Fantasy Island was definitely all shot on film with my Hasselblad camera.
Is there anyone that excites or inspires you at the moment?
I’m always excited seeing people in skateboarding doing their own independent projects and I really love what Dungeon is doing.
Any words of advice?
Work hard + don’t be dick.
Sarah Navan
How does Irish heritage seep into your work?
I grew up in Catholic Ireland, the kind where you went to mass every Sunday and didn’t dare speak openly about anything remotely personal. Shame and stigma were baked into the culture, especially around mental health, sex, and drugs. I was in the middle of treatment for bipolar disorder and began taking photos as a way to process what was happening. Over time, the project became a kind of confrontation. It’s not an attack on Catholicism, more a way of holding those things up to the light. I became a single mother young, and alongside everything else, life got very full, very fast. “Care in Progress” became a space to hold all of that, the pressure, the humour, the sex, the madness, the small joys without the shame. It’s not one clean narrative, more like a messy snapshot of trying to keep going and still feel something along the way.
What are you shooting with?
I’m still using this old Canon EOS 300 that I inherited for this body of work. There’s something about the limitations of it that feels right. It’s not precious or flashy but it catches moments exactly how I need them.
Is there anyone that excites or inspires you at the moment?
Nan Goldin and Wolfgang Tillmans shaped how I think about intimacy and truth in images. But lately, I’m most inspired by what’s happening around me. The artists in Fantasy Island are pushing Irish identity into fresh territory and collectives like IOVA Group and Island Photographers are creating space for something new to grow.
Zoe Hamill
How does Irish heritage seep into your work?
Living with the legacy of colonialism in Northern Ireland has directly influenced my interest in photography’s role as a tool of empire, and how I can recognise and subvert that in my own work. I also know from my own background that history is complex and narratives are subjective, and that’s something that I try to leave space for although it can feel impossible when language and symbols are so heavily loaded. Simple things like defining where I’m from make me hesitate because choosing one term over another instantly removes the nuance that I feel about my identity.
What are you shooting with?
I tend to choose my camera based on the underlying themes of the project. I’m currently working on a series challenging the colonial view of landscape as something to be exploited and controlled. To do this I’ve been using old analogue cameras from that era, giving up much of my control over the final images which are often abstract and unpredictable. For my series “A Map Without Words”, I wanted more forensic, indexical images that examine my relationship with place in an effort to understand it, so I used a Mamiya C330 (medium format TLR camera) that could provide sharp images with lots of detail.
Is there anyone that excites or inspires you at the moment?
My students. I lead photography workshops for a variety of audiences including the Stills School, an alternative education programme for young people facing barriers to accessing the arts. Their fresh perspectives often bring unexpected ideas and approaches that I could never have predicted, it challenges me to reconsider my own preconceptions of what photography can be.
Any words of advice?
When you’re working on a project, ask yourself if you’re the best person to tell this story. If you’re not, make space for someone who is.
Fantasy Island will be launching at The Library Project in Dublin on the 5th of June.