Bookbinder at her bench
Portrait photograph, 50mm. A bookbinder in her seventies at her workbench, hands resting on a half-sewn text block, surrounded by bone folders, thread, glue pots and offcuts of marbled paper. One tall window to her left is the only light. She occupies about a third of the frame and the bench fills the rest, so the room does as much work as she does. Waist up, turned slightly away, looking at the camera without arranging her face. Palette of warm paper cream, oxblood cloth and dull brass. Real pore texture, reading glasses pushed up into grey hair, 4:5.
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Dancer between takes
Studio portrait photograph, 85mm. A contemporary dancer sitting on the floor with her back against a plain mid-grey paper backdrop, legs loose in front of her, catching her breath between takes rather than holding any position. Sweat at her hairline, chest still rising, one shoe half off. Single large softbox from the front left and a weak fill on the right. Full length, camera at floor height. Palette of mid grey, warm skin and one strip of red fabric. Real sweat sheen, loose hair sticking to the neck, 2:3.
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Swimmer on the harbour steps
Vertical portrait photograph, 50mm. A woman in her fifties wrapped in a worn towel sitting on wet stone harbour steps just after a cold-water swim at first light, hair flat and dripping, gooseflesh on her forearms, faint steam coming off her shoulders into the cold air. Weak low sun from behind her rimming the wet hair. Full length with the steps running away below her. Palette of grey wet stone, faded towel stripe and pale gold rim. Real gooseflesh, water beading on skin, salt drying white at the temple, 9:16.
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Choir on the church steps
Wide portrait photograph, 35mm. A village choir of about fourteen people of mixed ages arranged across three worn stone church steps, the steps themselves doing all the work of setting the heights so nobody has been placed in a row. Flat bright afternoon cloud, even light on every face. Two of them are mid-conversation and not ready. Full width, steps filling the frame. Palette of grey stone, black robes and one red hymn book. Real range of ages and body shapes, worn stone edges, 16:9.
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Chef forearms at the pass
Vertical portrait photograph, 85mm, cropped from just below the chin to the hands. A chef forearms working at the pass, both marked with old burn scars and a fresh red line across one wrist, tweezers in the right hand placing something on a plate. Hard overhead heat lamps directly above are the only light, throwing everything into strong top light. Steam rising through the beam. Palette of stainless steel, heat-lamp orange and white plate. Real scar tissue, singed arm hair, sweat at the wrist, 9:16.
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Eye behind a cracked lens
Close portrait photograph, 100mm macro. One eye of an older man seen through the left lens of his spectacles, which has a single fine crack running from the lower rim up and across the pupil, splitting the view of the iris slightly along that line. Soft window light from the left throws one clean catchlight. Cropped from eyebrow to cheekbone, nothing else in frame. Palette of pale blue iris, tortoiseshell frame and warm skin. Real iris fibre detail, dust on the lens, eyelash shadow, 4:5.
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Three generations on one sofa
Portrait photograph, 35mm. A grandmother, her daughter and a small child on a worn green sofa, the child leaning back into her mother and the grandmother resting one hand on the child ankle so all three are physically connected. Afternoon light from a window off to the right, soft and slightly warm. None of them is looking at the camera at the same moment. Full width of the sofa in frame with the family slightly left of centre. Palette of faded green upholstery, warm skin and dull gold light. Real skin texture at every age, worn sofa arm, 3:2.
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Hands around a chipped mug
Square portrait photograph, 85mm, cropped so no face appears at all. A pair of older hands wrapped around a chipped enamel mug on a scrubbed pine kitchen table, one thumb rubbing the chip, a worn wedding band and a healed scar across one knuckle. Soft window light from the left. Steam rising just enough to catch it. Shallow depth so the far edge of the table softens. Palette of warm pine, dull white enamel and one band of gold. Real skin slack and vein detail, hairline cracks in the glaze, 1:1.
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Newborn on a father forearm
Close portrait photograph, 100mm. A newborn asleep along the length of a father forearm, curled on its side with exactly two arms and two legs in correct newborn proportion and no extra limbs, the whole baby clearly shorter than the distance from his wrist to his elbow, which is what tells you how small it is. His tattooed skin and her unmarked skin against each other. Soft indirect light from a curtained window, no hard edge anywhere. Cropped tight so only the arm, the baby and a little of his shirt are in frame. Palette of warm skin, faded blue ink and cream cotton. Real newborn skin mottling, fine hair, a fingernail scratch, 4:5.
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Face turned into the light
Square studio portrait photograph, 100mm. A young man with his head turned roughly thirty degrees away from a single large source at his left, so the near side of his face is fully lit and the far side falls into soft shadow with the shadow edge running just off the bridge of his nose. Plain deep charcoal background well behind him. Eyes back to the lens although the head is turned away. Tight head and shoulders crop. Palette of charcoal, warm skin and one catchlight. Real pore and stubble texture, a healing cut on the lip, 1:1.
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Waiting on the last platform
Vertical portrait photograph, 50mm. A woman in a long coat waiting alone on an empty station platform late at night, standing under one of a run of overhead strip lights which are the only sources, the others receding away behind her. She occupies maybe a fifth of the frame with the platform and canopy taking the rest. Looking down the track rather than at the camera. Palette of cold fluorescent white, wet platform grey and one red signal in the distance. Breath just visible, wet reflections on the platform edge, 2:3.
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Painter beside her own canvas
Portrait photograph, 50mm. A painter in a paint-marked apron standing beside her own unfinished canvas in a north-facing studio, the canvas turned partly away and softly out of focus so you can tell it is unfinished but not what it is of. Cool even north light from a tall window fills the room. She is looking at the work rather than at the camera, brush down at her side. Three quarter length. Palette of cool grey north light, raw linen and smears of cadmium red. Real paint on skin and under the nails, 4:3.
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Two shepherds and a dog
Square portrait photograph, 50mm. Two shepherds, father and daughter, crouched on open hill ground with a working collie sitting between them, the dog given the same weight in the composition as either person and looking directly at the camera while neither of them is. Flat hill light under high cloud. Full length, low camera at their level. Palette of heather brown, waxed jacket olive and black and white dog. Real weathered skin, mud on boots and knees, wind in the dog coat, 1:1.
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Farmer at the field gate
Vertical portrait photograph, 85mm. A farmer in his sixties standing square at a five bar gate, forearms folded on the top rail, flat overcast light with no shadow anywhere so every line in his face and every crack in his hands reads evenly. Ploughed fields recede behind him and go soft. Full length in the vertical frame with a lot of sky above. Palette of mud brown, oilskin green and flat white sky. Colour negative film look with visible grain, weathered skin, dirt under the nails, 9:16.
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Night shift at the counter
Portrait photograph, 35mm. A night-shift attendant leaning on the counter of a small all-night shop, lit entirely by the strip light above the counter and the open drinks fridge behind him, both of which are visible in frame. It is around three in the morning and the window behind is black. He is mid-yawn and not performing for the camera. Waist up, counter across the bottom of the frame. Palette of green fluorescent, cold fridge white and black window. Slight colour cast from the two mismatched sources, tired eyes, 4:3.
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Five friends outside the pub
Portrait photograph, 35mm. Five friends crowded together outside a pub at dusk, overlapping each other with arms across shoulders and nobody standing in their own space, two of them laughing at something out of frame and one looking straight down the lens. Lit by the warm bulb over the pub doorway just above them and the last blue light in the sky. Waist up, filling the frame edge to edge. Palette of warm doorway amber against deep blue dusk. Pint glasses catching the light, real flushed skin, 3:2.
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Mechanic under the ramp
Portrait photograph, 35mm. A mechanic standing underneath a car on a raised ramp, lit by the yellow inspection lamp hooked to the chassis just above her head, which throws its light down and slightly across her face and leaves the workshop behind almost black. She is wiping her hands on a rag and looking up at the camera. Three quarter length, the underside of the car filling the top of the frame. Palette of sodium yellow, oil black and faded blue overalls. Colour negative film grain, grease in the knuckle creases, 4:3.
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Brothers sharing a chair
Portrait photograph, 50mm. Two brothers of about six and nine squashed side by side into a single worn armchair that is really only big enough for one, elbows competing for the arm rest, the younger one half on top of the older. Soft daylight from a window to the right. The older one has given up and is laughing. Full chair in frame, camera at their eye level. Palette of faded floral upholstery, warm daylight and school-jumper navy. Real childhood skin, scabbed knee, sock falling down, 4:5.
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Between two words
Portrait photograph, 50mm. A woman in her forties caught in the middle of saying something, mouth open on a word, eyebrows up, both hands raised in front of her mid-gesture as if shaping the thing she is describing. She is not looking at the camera. Sitting at a cafe table with soft daylight from a window behind the photographer. Waist up, slightly off centre with room in front of her gesture. Palette of warm cafe wood, mustard jumper and grey daylight. Colour negative grain, slight motion blur in one hand, 3:2.
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Fairground light on a young face
Vertical portrait photograph, 85mm. A teenager standing in front of a spinning fairground ride at night, lit entirely by the ride chase bulbs which are clearly visible behind her and out of focus into circles of red, white and green. The colour lands unevenly across her face because the bulbs are moving. She is watching the ride, not the camera. Waist up, ride filling the background. Palette of bulb red and green against deep night blue. Real teenage skin, breath in the cold, hair lifting in the draught, 2:3.
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