Portraits 2009 : Biographica

In memory of my mother who passed away on the 16th December 2009

'I am currently undertaking a major documentary portrait project, which began in August 2009. In 2010 some of the work will be published in a book Biographica. Within the overall project there are themes beginning to emerge :- musicians, artists, family, friends and strangers. Each theme has aesthetic differences and will be guided by my response to the spaces as I discover them. My concerns with the work, is to show people in their personal space, as they live in it today. I do not interfere with that personal space. It is a snapshot of peoples lives now in 2009/2010 and beyond. I spend most of my time looking outside of the camera rather than through the lens. I use only available light as I do not want to introduce external interference such as light or reflectors. This means my exposures can be up to 3/4 seconds. My sitters have to hold their position, a testament to their ability not to breathe, twitch, blink or move. The exposure times reveal something in the sitter that would not be in the 'instant' picture. Hundreds of moments, all rolled into one frame, one exposure, is part of the way I work'