Shane MacGowan sits on a green armchair beside a fireplace. The mantle is filled with objects including a buddha, a picture of Jesus and other religious figures. A statue of Phil Lynott stands on the gas fire.
Ellius Grace, Shane MacGowan at Home, 2021. © Ellius Grace.

Ellius Grace

Shane MacGowan at Home, 2021

Photograph 

"Shane MacGowan was my third commission for The New York Times, back at the end of 2021. I went to his apartment, where I met him and his wife, Victoria. Shane was an intimidating subject, due in equal parts to the art he created and the persona that preceded him out in the world. But what I quickly found was that he had a soft side too, I just had to figure out how to speak  his language. In this photo, he sits where he  spent most of his time, in the living room, surrounded by photographs and objects from his life. Above all else, Shane was a poet, and his art will live on forever." - Ellius Grace

Ellius Grace is a photographer and director who lives and works in Dublin. He was born and raised in Ireland and is mixed-race Irish and Chinese Malaysian. His work is mainly centred around people and human stories. He tries to make the most honest portraits that he can and wants to give the viewer a way into the humanity of the subject. He sees portraiture as a collaboration between himself and the sitter and the photographs as a record of the time that he and the sitter spent together, the conversation they had, and the location they were in. 

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