AIDAN Monaghan has been a top film stills photographer for over a decade, snapping iconic, poster-worthy shots of actors at work and candid behind-the-scenes moments on major TV shows and movies including Ridley Scott’s current blockbuster sequel, Gladiator II.
However, much like the Paul Mescal’s Lucius in Gladiator II, the north Belfast-based Co Fermanagh man was initially on a very different path until fate intervened: 20 years ago, he was a newly qualified architect working on big international projects with respected firm Foster and Partners.
“I studied architecture at Queen’s University and the Glasgow School of Art,” explains Monaghan (45), who grew up in Ederney.
“I worked for Norman Foster on the Boston Museum of Fine Art back in the early 2000s. That was the kind of course I was originally on.”
Then, in 2008, the global financial crisis hit hard. As Monaghan puts it, “the industry fell off the ledge”, leaving scores of young architects scrambling to find work.
Back in Belfast by this point after a period in London, Monaghan decided that a change of tack was in order - one that involved embracing his self-taught passion for photography.
“A lot of my contemporaries were heading back to London or going to Australia, but I had started shooting some theatre stuff for people like Marie Jones and Martin Lynch,” explains the photographer, who documented major stage productions like Dancing Shoes: The George Best Story and Over The Bridge.
“I had been doing a lot of photography in my spare time too, a lot of landscape stuff.”
Indeed, it was the latter strand of his photo work which landed Monaghan his first job as a film stills photographer on Terry George’s Oscar-winning, coastal Co Down-set short, The Shore, back in 2011.
“They put out a ‘crew call’ for it, so I sent in my CV,” he explains.
“My portfolio was mostly theatre and landscape shots at that point - and Oorlagh George [The Shore producer, daughter of Terry] was quite excited about the landscape stuff.
“They were shooting in Killough in Co Down, so the fact I had an understanding of that kind of landscape was, I think, what caught her interest.”
Once on set, Monaghan set about capturing the cast, which featured Ciarán Hinds, Conleth Hill and Kerry Condon, at work.
“It was quite a short shoot, maybe two weeks,” he recalls, “but afterwards, I was just hooked. It was so addictive. It was just like, this feels really ‘right’.”
“That was my first time working with Ciarán Hinds, who I’ve worked with maybe four times now, most recently on The Wonder [2022].
“I love seeing him on set. He’s such a joy to work with, and he can be your greatest advocate.
“Sometimes, I try to give actors a print of a still before we wrap. I had this image of Ciarán from The Shore taken on Belfast Mountain which I’d always wanted to give him.
“When I worked with Liam Neeson on Ordinary Love [2019], I asked Liam if he wouldn’t mind getting this print to Ciarán. He said, ‘No problem, I’m actually meeting him over Christmas.'
“I got it wrapped up and Liam handed it to Ciarán during Christmas dinner.
“So, Liam Neeson is my postman.”
I asked Liam Neeson if he wouldn’t mind getting one of my prints to Ciarán Hinds. He said, ‘No problem, I’m actually meeting him over Christmas.‘ I got it wrapped up and Liam handed it to Ciarán during Christmas dinner. So, Liam Neeson is my postman
— Aidan Monaghan
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Long before he was immortalising movie stars with his camera, Monaghan first learned how to take photographs during his A-level art & design studies at St Michael’s College in Enniskillen.
A dissertation on sports photography for the A-level course involved a week-long work placement with The Irish News picture desk in 1997 - seven days which proved crucial to his future career as a unit stills photographer.
Armed with a newly purchased Cosina SLR camera, it was while shadowing award-winning Irish News photographer Ann McManus - renowned for her visceral shots of GAA sporting action - that Monaghan got a crash course in the kind of instinct-based skills he would later draw upon while shooting stills on movies like Robert Eggers’ The Northman and Ridley Scott’s The Martian, Napoleon and Gladiator II.
“I’m from the same town as Ann, so I just asked her if I could shadow her,” explains Monaghan of how this Ederney connection provided a vital ‘in’.
“I was with her for a week covering news and sports stories. I was actually on the Garvaghy Road with Ann the day Mo Mowlam visited the resident’s group for the first time.
“There was massive media attention. I was only 18 and I remember kind of getting kicked out of the press scrum by all these grizzled six-foot-four news photographers.
“I ended up backed right against the entrance to the residents' centre as Mo Mowlam was walking from her car - she took a few steps forward, and then the press scrum parted and I got about two or three shots off.”
He and Ann rushed back to Donegall Street, where they discovered the teenaged snapper had indeed ‘got the shot’.
“It’s an image that’s stayed with me, because it’s a great moment. It was definitely one of those shots that ‘pings’ in your head.
“I was also with Ann for the Tyrone vs Derry 1997 Ulster Club semi-final. I think it was Ann who probably coined the phrase ‘blink and you’ll miss it’.
“That always stuck with me. You’re reading body language and trying to predict where the ball is maybe going to go. You have to be alert, reactive and instinctive - to go with your gut. It’s about being hypersensitive and hyper-ready just to get that shot.
“Those are the shots that always kind of shine out because they are in the moment and catch that sense of energy and movement.”
Nearly 30 years later, Monaghan found Ann’s words ringing in his ears while shooting a crucial fight sequence for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, in which Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal’s characters go sword-to-sword.
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Since he starts every new job by reading the script and visualising its key scenes, the photographer was well prepared for what was required from him at Scott’s elaborate recreation of Rome’s Colosseum in Malta.
However, the moment he clicked the shutter on his shot of Pedro Pascal flinging his sword at Paul Mescal - probably the most iconic still from the entire Gladiator II publicity campaign - the Co Fermanagh man knew he had captured something special.
“You plan as much as you can,” explains Monaghan, who also shot the stills for Robert Eggers' upcoming film Nosferatu.
“You know there’s going to be a climax to this action scene and you need to be in the right position, with the correct lens and the correct framing.
“But then there’s always a little bit of luck involved. Those are the shots that give you the most joy, because you feel it at the time.
“I always get a little tingle in my brain. It’s this instinctive sense of, ‘Boom - I’ve got it’. Part of it’s elation, but there’s also relief that you didn’t miss it.”
Having just moved into a new home near Cavehill - one of the photographer’s favourite spots to go hiking during down-time - it seems Monaghan will soon have a new wall-mounted memento of his recent work to enjoy, courtesy of his local cinema: his favourite Gladiator II poster, based on his shot of Paul Mescal’s Lucius rubbing the dirt of the Colosseum floor in his hands.
“The Movie House said they would keep it for me - they actually rang me there today to say it’s ready to collect,” he says.
“So at the moment, that’s my favourite trophy.”
Visit Aidan online at aidanmonaghan.com
