The rugby great joins Welsh legends such as Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Tom Jones and Ryan Giggs in Welsh photographer Terry Morris’s Cool Cymru Collection and his picture will go on display at an exhibition in the National Assembly this summer.
The Grand Slam-winning winger took the rugby world by storm in this year’s RBS Six Nations tournament but is amazed to find his portrait sitting alongside some of Wales’s biggest names.
He said: “To be mentioned in the same sentence as Joe Calzaghe is a massive honour. It’s taken me a fair bit of time to get used to it because there are some real legends in Terry’s collection. It’s a wonderful honour.”
As well as joining the Cool Cymru Collection, the new portrait will be auctioned this year as part of Williams’s benefit season with Neath and the Ospreys.
The player said: “It’s going to be a busy year and I’m grateful to all those who are helping. I’m doing a lot of things near my home in the Amman Valley to pay back the community which has supported me for all these years.”
Photographer Morris, based in Llanelli, said: “Shane deserves his place on rugby’s world stage and he was a joy to photograph. I hope the portrait captures his strength of character. I decided to keep it very lowly lit as a contrast to the incredibly bright spotlight that’s been shining on Shane for so much of this wonderful season.
“He’s one of Wales’s sporting greats and now joins talents such as Ioan Gruffydd, Katherine Jenkins and Bryn Terfel in the Cool Cymru Collection which will continue to expand to reflect Wales’s evolving influence on the world.”
Williams said that working with Morris was enjoyable. He said: “When I was approached by Terry to have my picture taken I jumped at the chance. I’d seen what Terry had already done and I’d seen the Cool Cymru Collection portraits. To be among them now is an honour. The new portrait’s superb – the best I’ve had taken.
“He’s a fabulous photographer and he’s done a great job with my picture. I know what he stands for and hopefully I’ll be able to work with him in the future.”
The Cool Cymru Collection was launched in November 2006 and helped to raise the profile of the Children’s Hospital of Wales. Sponsored by Llanelli-based Owens Road Services, it featured a photographic exhibition at the Wales Millennium Centre, a hardback coffee table book and an ITV Wales fly-on-the-wall series.
Morris pledged to build the collection by occasionally adding portraits of new Welsh icons whose excellence was recognised around the world. This summer he will unveil the first Cool Cymru Collection portrait from the world of politics.
