Revealing

22nd January 2017

With little sleep and a vow to never drinking gin again I collided with Rachel in our traditional fashion. Ever expecting a late pannack her draw dropped and eyes widened at the surprisingly punctual greeting at the train barriers.

Hunting for caffeine in the fresh winter sun we attempted to fill in the gaps. Rach and I have been friends for over 10 years and I’ve always wanted to shoot her. She has striking features and I knew her gaze would be focussed, meditative and committed. As most pictures of her reveal, she has an understanding of photography and it translates in how she presents herself.  She is patient, quiet and confident; participating in the act rather than being passively observed.  Like all the best subjects she likes to dance with the image-maker.

However, after refuelling we got distracted with tales and the sun was hastily leaving us. We frantically searched for a backdrop and grabbing what we could we shot a few frames. This isn’t my fav of the shoot but Ill save that for another time; besides I am now determined to kidnap her for a reshoot.

The many faces of Luigi from Tuscany. It seems a lifetime ago but the respite of the cool walls in our classroom also acted as a perfect backdrop to practice some portraiture.  What surprised everyone about Luigi was his multi dimensional persona. What I yearned to capture was the true identity of this complex joker. He was intangible. Like an actor every frame ignited a new character, the camera seemed to trigger his desire to play and I could only surrender to his game. Whichever Luigi wanted to be portrayed in that moment I had to let appear.

I’m on board a flight to NY at the moment and would pay money for fresh air. Long haul flights are one of my Room 101 gifts. The trapped space and the desire to sleep or be active totally restricted. Sure it’s a first world problem, I’m lucky to be flying away and equally lucky to have just wolfed down a bunch of sleeping pills…bonne nuit OAO x