Meet the Irish Wes Anderson enthusiasts whose work features in a travelling exhibition

David Maguire, who works as an IT administrator in Maynooth University, is one of two Irish photographers featured in the travelling Accidentally Wes Anderson (AWA) exhibition currently in South Kensington, London.

The Accidentally Wes Anderson Instagram page boasts 1.9 million followers, and people can submit photographs that they have taken that look as if they are straight out of a Wes Anderson directed film – accidentally, of course. It was founded by husband-and-wife duo Wally and Amanda Koval in 2017.

The exhibition is described on its website as “a journey through more than 200 of the most beautiful, idiosyncratic, and interesting places on Earth – all seemingly plucked from the whimsical world of Wes Anderson”.

Maguire, from Longford, says a friend introduced him to the page, after noticing Maguire post his pictures on Instagram.

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The first picture of Maguire’s that was posted on the page was of the Enniscrone baths in Co Sligo, and since then he has had seven photos feature on the popular account, including one of a chair in the National Library of Ireland, which features in the Accidentally Wes Anderson book, and one of the door of Maynooth’s biology department, which appears in the exhibition.

Maguire describes himself an amateur photographer, because he does it for fun, and thinks making a job out of it would perhaps ruin the enjoyment, but says “it’s mad” to be featured in an international exhibition that has travelled to Seoul and Tokyo already.

Maguire met the Kovals, who originally set up the page and run it, in New York in 2019.

Wally Koval says he and Amanda go through each submission to the site individually, before deciding where it should reside.

He says that the exhibition is on in London until mid-May but they have not decided where it will travel to next.

“We are toying with the idea of coming to the States and another one potentially opening within Europe or the UK, there’s a lot of discussion on is it Paris? Is it Edinburgh? Do we go to Dublin? Where we are going to next is really up to the community and how much interest there is from the AWA community in those places to see the exhibition,” Wally Koval says.

“My favourite comments that pop up on our Instagram or on our website is ‘I never expected to see this photo here’, or ‘I never expected to see this building here’; ‘I pass by this place every single day and I have for the past five years, 10 years, what have you, and I never thought to look at it this way’.”

Mairéad Bolger’s picture, Ireland’s Eye, taken a few miles off the coast of Howth in Co Dublin also features in the exhibition.

Originally from New Ross, Co Wexford, the architect now lives in Melbourne, Australia.

“I have really found a love for photography over the years and love when I can capture a really special moment. I was on a kayaking trip in Ireland’s Eye in the summer of 2022 when we came across the amazing little fishing hut, it looked like it was straight out of a scene from Moonrise Kingdom,” she says.

“Family members encouraged me to submit it to AWA. I am such a fan of the aesthetic, like so many are. Next thing you know it was posted on their IG [Instagram] for St. Patrick’s Day. They got in touch about the exhibition in London a few months after.

“Of course, I am thrilled for my photo to be exhibited at such a show. I feel really proud to have my photo amongst so many other incredible shots,” Bolger adds.

Unfortunately, Bolger will not make it to the exhibition in London, but hopes it will travel down under soon so she can see it for herself.

The Accidentally Wes Anderson book was published in 2020, with a foreword by Anderson himself, and another book is due in October, which will also feature Maguire’s work.