Photographer John Minihan: ‘I've seen a lot of heartache in my life but I've never been unhappy'

Irish Times

2 days ago

How agreeable are you?
It's been one of my problems all of my life – I rarely say no to anything. I have done, of course, but generally speaking, I'm one of those affable human beings. I like to please everybody.
What's your middle name, and what do you think of it?
My middle name is Joseph. I'm quite fond of it, John Joseph Minihan. It has a religious inflection, and that pleases me.
Where is your favourite place in Ireland?
My favourite place in Ireland has to be Athy, Co Kildare. I was born in Dublin, but after my father died, my mother left me to be reared in Athy by my aunt and uncle. That was the starting point for my sense of vision. I lived in my eyes in that town, and experienced events there as a child that had a profound effect on me. So much so, that I spent 34 years photographing the town,
photographing
love, life and death there. The photographs are in Shadows from the Pale: Portrait of an Irish Town, which was published by Secker & Warburg in 1996.
Describe yourself in three words.
I am blessed.
READ MORE
When did you last get angry?
I got angry about 15 minutes ago because I am a photojournalist newshound, and I can't stay away from the news. I was watching CNN and saw the barbarous slaughtering of innocent children strewn around that arid desert called Gaza. It's just awful.
What have you lost that you would like to have back?
When you say something like that, it seems a bit frivolous to me. But it's the people in my life, my aunt and uncle, and a very good friend, a very courageous man who died years ago from cancer. I mean, it's only people I'd like to have back. Artefacts? Not at all. They come and go, and they're replaceable. You go on the journey with people you love and who have been a contributing factor in your life.
What is your strongest childhood memory?
My strongest childhood memory is being in Athy with my aunt and uncle, and, absolutely, just being loved. My mother left me, remarried, went to England and had another three sons. After that, I met my mother only once, in Dublin, in Kimmage – she came over to visit one of her sisters. I was about six or seven, and on the mantelpiece was a photograph of my mother and father on their wedding day. I was just there, I think I was sitting down, and my mother looked at me and said, 'You're not as handsome as your father.' I looked at her and I knew at that moment she said something that wasn't a loving statement from a mother to her son. At that point, I realised the journey for me was going to take a few extra furlongs.
Samual Beckett. Photograph: John Minihan
Where do you come in your family's birth order, and has this defined you?
I have three half-brothers, and we keep in touch; we phone and text. Being the firstborn, and after my father died, however, I felt I was on my own. No question about it.
What do you expect to happen when you die?
I expect to die with a smile on my face. Simple as that.
When were you happiest?
I've seen a lot of heartache in my life, and I've seen a lot of awful things happen, but I've never really been unhappy. My energy, the idea that even now, at nearly 80 years of age, to be able to get on to an aeroplane, to go and take photographs of what I really enjoy – the most recent of which was of Gary Oldman in Mr [Samuel] Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape in York – is just wonderful.
Lady Diana Spencer. Photograph: John Minihan
Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life?
I never think about something like that. My greatest achievement is to have seen my pictures in print hanging on walls, be it in pubs, galleries, museums or institutions that celebrate photography. An actor in a biopic? That's a bit of a silly question.
What is your biggest career/personal regret?
I regret nothing, and I'm marching on. As I said, the only thing I want is that when I die, God will call me. I want to go to bed, lights out, and have a smile on my face. I want all my loved ones not to worry about me. I'll be happy if someone just says a prayer.
Have you any psychological quirks?
I have a particular interest in photographing religious artefacts. I'll photograph statues or something like the Corpus Christi processions in Schull or Ballydehob. Some people find that rather odd, or that Minihan has lost the plot. I don't know why they should think that, because every time I go out with a camera and photograph something, I feel that I'm giving something back.
In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea.