Picture this: you’re 13 years old, it’s the weekend, and you’re hanging out in your bedroom with your friends. Music is playing, and you’re rummaging through your closet for outfit options to wear to a party. This is peak girlhood.
That’s exactly what Eimear Lynch captured in her first-ever photo book with IDEA, entitled Girls’ Night. The Irish photographer traveled around Ireland to capture images of teenage girls getting ready for disco parties. “I wanted to relive my teenage years. I loved going to discos. I mostly loved the hours of getting ready with friends beforehand,” Lynch said in a statement. She continues on to explain that in her teen years, she’d gather at a friend’s house on a Friday and “spend the following five to six hours doing her tan, hair and makeup together.”
It’s these experiences that build community and camaraderie among young girls as they grow up. Lynch masterfully illustrates this feeling in her imagery, showing teens sprawled around a bedroom sharing in a unified beauty experience. A true moment of nostalgia for Lynch as she recalls her excitement as a teenager “to finally be able to partake in the rituals of beauty culture.” The collective organized mess of mirrors and makeup products and the display of friends helping each other is sisterhood personified.
While traditions may change throughout generations, teen girls getting ready together will continue to be a mainstay. Girls’ Night is now available to purchase on the brand’s website.
For more beauty news, check out our coverage of the “Pink Tax” on gender-based hygiene products.
