I obtained my LIcentiateship with the Royal Photographic Society by presenting a panel of portraits entitled 'Joined at the Hip'. The images were all of people I knew with the one thing they seemed inseparable from, in one way or another the love of their life. Shot on medium format, the portraits were traditionally processed and printed in my darkroom.
Now, even though my work is largely digital, I shoot portraits with the same more time-honoured feel. It's a slower process, and if I haven't grabbed a little bit of what makes the subject tick, their essence if you will, then the portrait is not a success. Beyond all else, people fascinate me; I'm the sort of person that can sit at a pavement café and just watch the world go by, and so the work of masters like Cartier Bresson and Karsh always invoke an emotional reaction from me.
If you look at a portrait of someone you know, and you can say "yep, that's them" and you can recognise their character in their portrait, its a job well done.
