“I WAS ALWAYS heavily influenced by images so it made sense that I gravitated towards that for a job,” explains Dublin-born photographer and filmmaker, Ellius Grace.
Grace, based between Dublin and London, turned a childhood interest into a remarkable career as one of the country’s most sought-after visual artists. His beautiful and inherently intimate portraits have been featured in the likes of The New York Times, The Financial Times, i-D and The Hollywood Reporter. Across his considered work, there’s a captivating sensitivity felt between him and his subject which subsequently conveys a great tranquillity in his portraits.
An early curiosity towards creativity began at home through the films shown to a young Grace by his father and the books and magazines that surrounded him. As he got older and considered his future, Grace decided to turn this passion into his profession.
“I was always into filmmaking and photography when I was younger,” Grace tells The Journal. “I’d say they were the hobbies that stuck the longest so naturally, I started taking them more seriously. I could do more with photography early on so I took that on as my main focus when I was in college studying graphic design. I would take portraits of friends and do photos for people in the other departments for their projects. After a few years of working as a photographer when I finished college, I then got back into filmmaking as I knew a good few musicians who needed videos.”
Amongst the musicians with whom Grace has worked – producing music videos, album artwork and press shots - include Lankum, Junior Brother, Soak, Aoife Nessa Frances, Kojaque, and Saint Sister. The range in each of their musicality and style demonstrates how healthy Ireland’s arts scene is at the present, as Grace notes.
“There’s great energy in the [music] scene right now. The internet has been a huge help for many people to be discovered, and Ireland has no shortage of homegrown talent. It’s been amazing to play a small part in some of these works and get to be part of the community in a sense. I love how most people know each other and support one another. There’s a feeling here that people will show up for creative projects they’re excited about, and I try to show up in equal measures for things I stand behind. It can be hard to stay positive these days with inflation rising, a housing crisis and a recession looming, but I find it so gratifying to spend my spare time working on interesting projects with incredibly talented people. We make the things we want to see in the world.”
The process of working with musicians and creating work to complement and bring a visual component to their artistry brings a great sense of excitement to Grace. “I love being able to dig into great music and see what images come to mind; what stories are being told by the words and sounds.”
He continues, “I really love collaborating with a musician and showing them what I took away from their work and what I would want to add to it with a video. There’s a certain responsibility you have to their work and their creativity, and I really enjoy that back and forth. You get to hear about the choices they have made and see their process. I’m much more visual than I am musical, but it’s so clear that creative processes can be so similar even if they are in totally different mediums or practices.”
In Grace’s portrait work, there is also a collaborative environment between him and the individual he’s capturing, as he explains. “I try to make the person feel as comfortable and normal as possible while we shoot. I try to make portraits that feel true to who the subject is, and usually, that is best represented by what they look like when I first walk in before the camera is out. So I just chat away and get to know the person while I’m there. If there’s music to be played I let them choose what they like, and have them in their natural environment, if possible. Anything to make them feel at home and themselves. When we’re taking photos I’ll always keep the conversation between shots and direct a little bit but also let them guide me with how they sit and react to me. It’s a collaboration between the two of us.”
It is truly remarkable to scroll through Grace’s online portfolio, to see the stunning portraits he has taken of people from different creative disciplines – music, fashion, literature, and film – who are at different stages in their own careers. He has worked with beloved figures such as Sinéad O’Connor, Graham Norton and Colm Tóibín as well as emerging faces who are quickly becoming household names like Maya Hawke and Eve Hewson.
Reflecting on some of his career highlights, Grace recalls time spent with a recent Oscar nominee and a Booker Prize winner. “I really enjoy getting to see inside someone’s world for an hour or so and getting to know them. I guess just the places I’ve seen and the people I’ve met have all been special. In particular, I got to spend five minutes with Barry Keoghan in the Merrion Hotel once for a shoot, and myself and Colm Toibin explored Enniscorthy and Wexford for a story for The Financial Times. He showed me places from his childhood there and ran some errands while we were there!”
Already, Ellius Grace has accomplished so much in such a short (but extremely busy) space of time. However, that hasn’t halted his desire to expand upon his creative process with some exciting projects in the pipeline for this year.
“I’m currently in the editing stage for my first short film which we shot at the end of January! I’ve been working towards making my first short for a long time and finally, it came together. I wrote the film with my friend Brian Bowe, and we had a brilliant cast and crew come together for the shoot. We’ll be working on post-production for the next while and then heading for festivals after that! It’s really exciting to be starting this next step, and I’m looking forward to what comes next.”
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