John Minihan has come a long way since his days as a paparazzo. At the Dublin party for his new book An Unweaving of Rain- bows: Images of Irish Writers, held rather fittingly in the Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing on Westland Row on Thursday night, many of the Irish writers in question turned out to support the project.
Of course, the Irish writer for whose portraits John is most renowned, Samuel Beckett, could not be there, but there is a fine new portrait of him, taken in 1980, to kick off the collection. Minihan explained that after Beckettsaw John's photographic portrait of his birthplace Athy, Shadows From The Pale, he invited him to take the now famous portraits which were published in book form.
Working with Beckett in turn introduced John to many other Irish writers and so the latest book was born: "I've always been fascinated by writers and photography - so many of them took such great photos themselves." The photos were taken in an informal and often impromptu fashion over the years and record all the great and good of Irish literature, from Francis Stuart to Sebastian Barry.
Among those writers featured in the book and there on the night were Tom Kilroy, Gerald Dawe, Anthony Cronin, Ulick O'Connor and Eilean Ni Chuilleanain, who said a few words before dashing off to deliver a lecture in Trinity. Poet Derek Mahon, who wrote the foreword and collaborated with John on the book, could not make the party because (in John's words): "He's in Rome riding a Vespa and chasing the Fellini experience."
John had just flown back the celebrations for the book in London which took place on Tuesday in the company of Edna O'Brien, Beckett publisher John Calder and Edward Beckett. It's all a far cry from John's paparazzo days which will be immortalised forever with one particular shot - of the then Lady Diana Spencer in her kindergarten days wearing a see-through skirt.