info@shanemccarthy.ie | +353 (0)87 252 6944 | 9, BOND STREET, DUBLIN 8.
After 40 years creating images, I'm still passionate about photography, especially photographing people. Meeting new & interesting characters, I’m always looking for something fresh and appealing in every subject. I'm privileged to have worked with many of Ireland's most celebrated individuals from the worlds of:
Theatre (David Kelly; Cillian Murphy & Bronagh Gallagher),
Music (Bono, Maria Doyle Kennedy & Jerry Fish),
Art (Louis le Brocquy, Rasher & Robert Ballagh),
Written Word (Roddy Doyle, John Connolly & Harold Pinter),
Media (Robert Fisk & Eamon Dunphy),
Sport (Paul McGrath & Ruby Walsh),
Food (Dylan McGrath & Conrad Gallagher)
and Radio (Ryan Tubridy, Tom Dunne & Dave Fanning).
I’ve seen my work published in every significant Irish publication and have thoroughly enjoyed 2 successful exhibitions:
A Portrait of India (2009)
Taking Liberties (2012) - Streetlife in Dublin’s Liberties.
Originally schooled in film, and the darkroom, these days I shoot digitally and am completely adept at Photoshop & Lightroom. While I dislike images that are 'overly-airbrushed', I will of course perform a little 'tidying & grooming', but avoid needless surgery.
Models, actors, musicians, artists and politicians will all testify to the easygoing laid-back mood on the set, and of how I encourage a relaxed comfortable atmosphere, allowing the subject to just 'be themselves', in front of my camera.
The studio, in the heart of Dublin’s Liberties, finds me returning to where I first began working in the early 1980's with Ursula Steiger, Ireland’s foremost female fashion photographer. I share the space with a like-minded snapper, Barry McCall and this encourages a creative and mutual 'raising of our game'.