From kink-inflected portraits to poetic meditations on places of sanctuary, 12 rising photographers explore what armour means to themAugust 08, 2025
Emerging artists today are making their start in a particularly uncertain world. In an era of global unrest and downturn, the act of armouring oneself, emotionally and practically, has never felt more necessary. As an artist and photography lecturer at LCF, it’s something Cole Flynn Quirke knows well. Borrowing its title from a Guided By Voices song, his new exhibition Quality of Armour (opening at Waste Space in east London tomorrow) invites 12 rising photographers to offer their interpretations of the theme. “My intention for this show was to curate work that represents the armour we use to protect ourselves on a more personal and profound level,” he tells AnOther. “Possibly an object, a person, or place that, even for a brief moment, keeps our existential demons at bay.”
Capturing people and places in grainy, poignantly composed frames, Quirke is an RCA graduate who got his start as Nick and Susie Cave’s in-house photographer. He’s since released two books published by Jane and Jeremy Books which explore ideas of solitude and the “sundown on the devil-may-care” days of youth, as well as creating evocative black and white images for Belgian label Ann Demeulemeester.
The first seeds for his new exhibition, Quality of Armour, were sown back in 2019 following his debut solo exhibition at the Truman Brewery. “It was about memorialising the people in your life who act as a proverbial oak tree, the most consistent and loved,” he says. “In recent years, I have become friends with a lot of artists who I feel share the same ethos and thought it would be exciting to do a small exhibition of works in progress.”
Quality of ArmourPhotography by Yasuhiko Iida
Quirke knows each of the artists personally, lending the curation a particular note of intimacy. Each has taken the theme of armour in their own direction; some startlingly severe and others more gesturally emotive. Kaan Alexander Olcay captures a girl smiling through an eyeless latex mask; Jack Van Giap looks to the spectral comfort of the night sky in a triptych; and Yasuhiko Iida photographs loved ones and places that offer him protection, from the lapping waves of the sea in Japan to the fields of Hyde Park in springtime. “The only rule for the show was that everything had to be handprinted,” says Quirke. “This was because of the level of intimacy and care it takes when you’re in a darkroom.”
Quirke’s own images are also in the show – a series of hard-to-place black and white shots of bodies and landscapes, including an arm with fresh bitemarks imprinted into the skin and mottled cloud formation at daybreak. “My artwork has always been depicting life in one way or another, and a big part of that is exploring ourselves,” he says. “I grew up skating, and as I got older, I became aware of a lot of insecurity and vulnerability in some mates of mine, hidden behind a cool guy exterior. [I think it was a] sort of armour to protect their mental health. Ultimately, I think showing one’s vulnerability is really brave, so I wanted to explore that.”
Quality of ArmourPhotography by Cole Flynn Quirke
Quirke hopes this feeling extends to the gallery space itself, too. “I’d like it to be a laidback experience – it’s a cool little space, so it doesn’t demand silence or awkwardness like a big clinical gallery,” he says. “I’d like people to feel some sort of comfort after visiting, and hopefully leave feeling a little warmer and inspired.”
Quality of Armour is on show at Waste Space in London from 9 – 13 August 2025. Exhibited artists include Georgia Sydney Jones, Evan Purdy, Jack Van Giap, Kaan Olcay, Cole Flynn Quirke, Molly Emma, Harvey Flynn Quirke, Natalia Theodoulidis, Yasuhiko Iida, Siam Coy, Lucas Edwards and Chiara Gabellini.