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Title: Love, Life and Death

Love, Life and Death

John Minihan in His Own Words

by Gerry Diver (Author) Declan Houten (Author)
©2026 Others XIV, 88 Pages
The Arts

Summary

From his beginnings in the town of Athy, County Kildare, John Minihan rose to become one of the most perceptive photographers of the twentieth century, rubbing shoulders with film stars, rock stars and royalty along the way. Drawing on extensive interviews and the photographs that made Minihan's reputation, this book tells the story of an Irish artist, his methodology and his creative obsessions in his own words. Beginning with his initiation into the alchemy of photography in Ireland and London, Love, Life and Death looks at Minihan as a photojournalist, an expert in the mysteries of the darkroom and as a deeply spiritual artist. Through everything, Minihan's words unspool a thread that links his photographs of the wake of Katy Tyrell and of Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett—his unwavering belief in the centrality of love, life and death as photographic subjects.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Half Title
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • Dedication
  • Contents
  • List of Images
  • Foreword (Adrian Dunbar)
  • Acknowledgements
  • Introduction (Niall Carson)
  • Chapter 1 Minihan’s World
  • Growing up
  • Early memories of photography
  • Starting off in journalism
  • Beginnings at the Standard
  • Minihan’s London
  • The infamous ‘No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish’ signs
  • Minihan’s Ireland
  • Athy
  • Skibbereen
  • Chapter 2 Death and Devotion
  • The Wake of Katy Tyrell
  • How John came to photograph the wake
  • The importance of the wake
  • Death, faith and the Virgin Mary
  • The Virgin Mary
  • Churches, rituals and devotional artefacts
  • Churches
  • Chapter 3 The Art of Photography
  • John’s inspirations and philosophy of ‘seeing’
  • Methods and materials
  • First Cameras
  • Subjects
  • The dark room
  • Photojournalism as a craft
  • Chapter 4 Friends and Subjects
  • Literature and culture
  • The music scene
  • The world of film
  • Diana
  • Chapter 5 Samuel Beckett
  • First meeting Beckett
  • Photographing Beckett in Paris
  • Beckett and photography
  • Notes on Contributors

To my wife Deirdre, for being there for me.

john

Contents

  1. List of Images

  2. Foreword Adrian Dunbar

  3. Acknowledgements

  4. Introduction Niall Carson

  5. Chapter 1 Minihan’s World

    1. Growing up

      1. Early memories of photography

      2. Starting off in journalism

      3. Beginnings at the Standard

    2. Minihan’s London

      1. The infamous ‘No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish’ signs

    3. Minihan’s Ireland

      1. Athy

      2. Skibbereen

  6. Chapter 2 Death and Devotion

Details

Pages
XIV, 88
Publication Year
2026
ISBN (Hardcover)
9781805845089
ISBN (PDF)
9781805845096
ISBN (ePUB)
9781805845102
DOI
10.3726/b23755
Language
English
Publication date
2026 (September)
Keywords
Photography Art Ireland literature Beckett photojournalism celebrities
Published
Oxford, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, New York, 2026. xiv, 88 pp., 71 fig. b/w.
Product Safety
Peter Lang Group AG

Biographical notes

Gerry Diver (Author) Declan Houten (Author)

Gerry Diver is Strategy and Innovation Offi cer at the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool. With over 30 years’ experience of community development work in Northern Ireland, he was also an elected representative (2001–2016), Mayor of Derry (2008–2009). Since 2016, he has worked in HE, fi rst at LJMU before joining University of Liverpool (2021). Declan Houten is a fourth-year PhD student at the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool. He has published on James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake in the Joyce Studies Annual.

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Title: Love, Life and Death