'Pretty special': Photographing Rory Gallagher's guitar ahead of tomorrow's auction was a dream come true

With an asking price of about £1m, it might not be possible to snap up Rory Gallagher’s guitar, but today’s auction has meant that one Irish photographer has fulfilled his dream of at least snapping it.

Rory’s 1961 Sunburst Fender Stratocaster is due to be auctioned at Bonham’s in London this Thursday afternoon, an Irish photographer has fulfilled his dream of snapping the iconic guitar.

The guitar was bought on hire purchase by Rory’s mother from Michael Crowley in Crowley’s Music Centre for £100 in 1963

There has been one silver lining to the auction of Rory’s guitar, in that Dublin freelance photographer BoB Dixon, who has spent the past decade trying to photograph it has finally had the opportunity to do so.

“It was constantly on the road, and I had contacted Rory’s brother Donal loads of times and whenever I called I got the same answer, so then when I heard that it was up for auction, Donal put me in touch with someone at the auction house and they allowed me to take some photographs,” he told The Echo.

“It was a massive thing, I’ve photographed a lot of iconic guitars over the years the years, but this was pretty special.” 

He believes that the fact he has some of the lyrics of A Million Miles Away – “Sailing like a driftwood on a windy day” – tattooed on his arm probably helped his case.

“It’s such a unique piece of art, the way it’s so worn, the way Rory’s jeans are imprinted into the back of the guitar, the way there’s so much mileage in it, I just had to photograph it,” Mr Dixon said.

“It’s been my dream to photograph it for so long, and it’s been such a privilege to have that dream come true.”