Inside National Gallery of Ireland: Delving into John Minihan’s Visual Poetry with Sarah McAuliffe
Spanning a remarkable 60-year career, the National Gallery of Ireland’s exhibition, Visual Poetry: The Photography of John Minihan, traces the life and work of one of Ireland’s most compelling visual storytellers. Beginning as a 16-year-old apprentice in a London newspaper darkroom during the 1960s, Minihan’s talent was quickly recognised, earning him early acclaim, including winning the Evening Standard’s Best Photograph award for his image of the Whispering Gallery in St Paul’s Cathedral. From photographing icons like The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Rory Gallagher, to capturing cultural figures such as Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon, and Samuel Beckett, whose portraiture would become especially significant. Minihan’s career charts an extraordinary path through modern cultural history and a more personal documentation of life and landscape history in Ireland.
To go beyond the images themselves and understand the vision shaping the exhibition, we spoke with Sarah McAuliffe of the National Gallery of Ireland, whose curatorial eye brings Minihan’s powerful body of work together for anyone to enjoy.
Why “Visual Poetry”?
McAuliffe: This title relates to the poetic nature of Minihan’s work, as well as his enduring interest in poetry. There is a lyrical quality to so many of Minihan’s photographs, and when taken together in the exhibition, a rhythm forms across decades, subject and style.
Throughout his life, Minihan’s fondness for poetry, particularly the work of writers such as Padraic Fiacc, John Montague, William Burroughs and John Heath-Stubbs, has never wavered. He is also an avid admirer of the plays of Samuel Beckett and, to this day, continues to photograph staged productions of his work in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
If we think about the exhibition itself as a poem, the refrain would be religion. Minihan was first introduced to photography through mass cards in the Dominican Church in Athy, Co. Kildare. The first photograph of his to be printed was of the Whispering Gallery in St Paul’s Cathedral. Just a few years later, he photographed the wake and funeral of Katy Tyrell in Athy across two nights and three days.
Most recently, while convalescing in the South Infirmary in Cork City, he was granted access to St Joseph’s Chapel, which has not been used in the last 20 years. There, he photographed the statues of the Madonna and Stations of the Cross amongst the decay and rubble of the chapel. In Minihan’s own words, “Many of my most iconic photographs have a religious connection: the Whispering Gallery (1962), The Wake of Katy Tyrrell (1977), even Lady Diana Spencer (1980). To have spent my early years in Athy was a privilege for me. It was an age of belief; religion dominated everyday thinking and behaviour. On my trips to Ireland, I would photograph the holy shrines the length and breadth of the country.”
What makes Minihan’s work stand out?
McAuliffe: Across all of his subjects, what stands out to me is Minihan’s excellent rendering of light; he achieves a beautiful variation in tone with a monochromatic palette.
Looking specifically at his portraits, I am very drawn to the close range at which Minihan photographs the sitter. He positions himself at a point that facilitates an impression of the sitter’s character, as well as the atmosphere in the moment that the photograph was made.
He follows a similar approach to his representations of landscapes, interiors and urban scenes, focusing on a particular landmark or object in short depth of field and including just a glimpse into the world around it for context. Minihan’s photographic style stems from the documentary tradition, which he blends with composed and candid photography.
During the course of his career on Fleet Street with the Evening Standard, Minihan refined his practice around his interest in the arts – literary, visual and performing – and his desire to shine a light on what may go unnoticed; to draw out the poetry of everyday life. For the most part, he prefers working with natural light and his desaturated black and white palette is largely made up of cool tones.
What was your curation process like, and how did you decide which works to include and how to present them?
McAuliffe: The selection process for this exhibition stemmed from my familiarity of Minihan’s work over the last decade. In 2021, the National Gallery of Ireland acquired a number of Minihan’s photographs for its permanent collection. The process of acquiring his work involved many months of meetings, conversations and viewings to whittle down a selection for the Gallery. Fortunately, this experience gave me a great insight into Minihan’s own collection. In 2014, Minihan’s archive was sold to University College Cork. They now hold a multitude of Minihan’s photographs, contact sheets, and test prints, among other objects. The opportunity to access their holdings in preparation for this exhibition was extremely valuable. We also borrowed a number of archival items from the National Library of Ireland that demonstrate Minihan’s process and working methods.
One of my main objectives for the exhibition was to strike a balance between Minihan’s celebrated work – portraits of Samuel Beckett, The Wake of Katy Tyrell, photographs of celebrities made during his Fleet Street career – and perhaps some of his lesser-known, but equally significant images – everyday life in Athy, Co. Kildare where spent his formative years, his travels to destinations like Havana, Cuba and his most recent bodies of work made in Cork, where he has resided over the last 30 years. Minihan describes the work he made in Athy as the “heartbeat” of his practice, thus it was important to me to ensure that his visual record of this town had a special place in the exhibition.
Minihan has long advocated that “black and white are the colours of photography”. I chose to use this as a guide in the selection process, choosing only to exhibit his black and white work.
My intention with this exhibition is to offer audiences a snapshot into Minihan’s life, from his early days in London working as a press photographer to the photographs he made while convalescing in a hospital in recent times, so that one becomes acquainted with his personal and artistic journey. With this in mind, I knew which bodies of work I would be searching for and how the show would be laid out, i.e. commencing with a work he made as a 16 year old on Fleet Street, traversing his career as a press photographer and regular visits to his hometown of Athy, and culminating with photographs made in the last decade.
Above all, the most important aspect of the planning and curatorial stages of this project, for me, was ensuring that Minihan’s voice and vision were not only respected but central to the concept and execution of this exhibition. It is rare to have the opportunity to work directly with the maker of the objects you are curating, and when the occasion arises, I think it is essential to collaborate and communicate regularly and openly.
The curation of the exhibition was informed by the selection of works, which naturally fell into three categories – Press photography / Fleet career in London + the Arts; Athy, Co. Kildare and Samuel Beckett; County Cork and wider travels – reflecting the physical layout of the room, which is made up of three walls. The addition of display cases was essential to my desire to feature the artist’s ephemera, contact sheets, test prints and images of the artist at work to give a well-rounded view of his working methods and insights into professional life.
The exhibition spans over sixty years of Minihan’s career. How did you approach distilling such a vast body of work into one show?
McAuliffe: It is certainly challenging when you are exploring the career of such a prolific and wide-ranging artist. However, I knew that there were certain aspects of Minihan’s practice and career that I wanted to focus on – photo-journalism, travel, Athy and Cork. This provided the shape of the exhibition and allowed me to seek out specific works that myself and Minihan felt best exemplified these phases of his life and career. Most of the exhibitions of Minihan’s work to date have focused exclusively on his photographs of Samuel Beckett and The Wake of Katy Tyrell. In light of this, I wanted to delve deeper and explore his introduction to photography and his fascination with Athy, as well as his most recent bodies of work, with the hope of creating a mini retrospective that would encapsulate his extensive career.
Minihan began working as a press photographer at just 16. How do you see that early experience shaping his later work?
McAuliffe: Being introduced to photography at such a young age has given Minihan over 60 years’ experience of working with analogue photography, so that his ability to negotiate light and shadow, composition and framing is now almost instinctual. Having known Minihan for the last number of years, it seems to me that he is always thinking photographically. We could be walking along the street, and he would stop and know exactly when to shoot. The idea of a 16 year old entering the world of press photography is, of course, very daunting. I can imagine the courage that it must have taken, as well as the self-assuredness that Minihan had on the basis of having looked at photographs for so many years as a young adult and his passion for the power that the medium has to freeze a moment; to take a slice out of life and record it for eternity. He was aware of the magic of photography since childhood, and his reverence for the medium is what unites his dynamic, decades-long practice.
Minihan photographed famous figures like Samuel Beckett and Francis Bacon. What sets his portraits apart from others?
McAuliffe: Firstly, I would say friendship. For Minihan, establishing a relationship with his sitters is something he takes very seriously. When he first met Beckett, he spent hours speaking with him in an informal, genuine way that installed a sense of trust in the Nobel Prize-winning author, someone who was known to be quite shy and reserved. The pair in 1980 and by 1985, Beckett invited Minihan to Paris, a city he adored, on the eve of his 80th year (it is interesting to think about this image today in Minihan’s own 80th year). As Minihan explains himself, he is not a “foot in the door” photographer. If someone does not want to collaborate in the portrait or image-making process, he will not force it. In fact, his best portraits, including those of Beckett, arise out of being invited by the sitter to photograph them. When it came to Bacon, Minihan had been aware of him for a number of years.
The pair frequented the Colony Room in Soho, where they struck up a friendship, sharing an interest in photography and literature. Bacon did not allow many into the inner sanctum of his studio, but Minihan was one of the chosen few. This alone speaks to the skill he had in fostering relationships with the people he photographed before picking up the camera. Secondly, I would suggest that what sets his portraits of well-known figures apart from others is his understanding of their interests, jobs, trades, etc. For instance, Minihan had read several of Beckett’s plays before meeting him, out of his own interest. This is something he says is crucial to photographing people in the public eye – know your subject; carry out foundational research.
I read that Dr Caroline Campbell described Minihan's work as a career that helped shape a vision of Irish Society. In what way do you think Minihan contributed to Irish society and the photography sphere in Ireland?
McAuliffe: Over the last 60 years, Minihan has amassed an unrivalled visual record of the Irish provincial town, focusing on Athy, Co. Kildare and in doing so has managed to create a snapshot of Irish life and society, as well as the natural and built environment, as it has evolved since the 1960s. So too has he photographed in other pockets of the country – Dublin and West Cork, most notably – documenting daily life, as well as momentous instants in Irish social, political and religious history; e.g. the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland in 1979 and of President Ronald Reagan in 1984. Today, Minihan continues to visit and photograph Athy, as well as turning his lens to those people and places closest to him in Cork.
In relation to his impact on the medium of photography in the context of Ireland, Minihan is one of the country’s most distinguished photographers and has played a major role in the proliferation of analogue practice in an age marked by digital technology. His unique approach, coupled with his oeuvre, is a source of inspiration for both established and aspiring photographers in Ireland and further afield today.
What do you hope visitors take away from Visual Poetry?
McAuliffe: My wish for those who visit this exhibition, whether they are seeing Minihan’s work for the first time or are familiar with his practice, is to gain an insight into his photographic process, mission and style, as well as the diversity of his career. A medium that is still fighting for its place as a fine art in many respects to this day, a big aspiration of mine is that this exhibition provides greater recognition of photography and the significant impact of Irish artists on the medium in Ireland and internationally. Thinking of its influence outside of the medium alone, I hope that this exhibition exemplifies how an early passion or interest can be transformed into one’s lifelong occupation.
Is there a particular piece in the exhibition that you personally return to or that continues to stay with you?
McAuliffe: Yes, the work that I find I am continually drawn to is Whispering Gallery, St Paul’s Cathedral (1962). For me, this image epitomises the idea of Minihan’s photographs equating to a kind of visual poetry. There is a sense of solitude in this work that is rendered through soft light and the silence of the whispering gallery, populated by just two men, sitting apart, resting their heads against the curved stone walls, or perhaps listening to the whispers they hold.
Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the Whispering Gallery features unique acoustics where a whisper against the wall on one side can be clearly heard over 100 feet away on the opposite side. Minihan made this work when he was just 16 years old. He submitted it to the weekly photo competition of the Evening Standard newspaper and was awarded 5 guineas for best photograph. Perhaps, even more importantly, this image was published in the Evening Standard – what an impressive feat for someone who was relatively new to working with analogue photography. During his time as an “office boy” for the Evening Press as a teenager, Minihan would spend his lunch break in the Whispering Gallery with a cheese sandwich and a camera. There is something so pure about this, and this story is with me every time I view the work.
Visual Poetry:The photography of John Minihan is essential viewing for emerging artists searching for inspiration, for those looking to reconnect with their heritage, and for anyone curious to see how some of history’s most iconic figures were captured through the Irish eye of John Minihan. To witness the work in person, visit the Sir Hugh Lane Room in the National Gallery of Ireland before 11 October, where the collection is on display with free admission.
Written by: Shaunamay Martin Bohan @f4wnfatale
