“A portrait is a photograph that makes people attractive, to re-enforce their own views.” Angus McBean “A portrait is a photograph the linked people in there own environment” Bill Brandt “A portrait is a photograph taken quickly with natural lighting.” Jane Bown “A portrait is a photograph that tries to show the soul of a person” Yousuf Kars h (of Ottawa) “A portrait as a photograph of someone who knows there being photographed.” Richard Avedon Guardian Newsroom Talk and Exhibition During our visit to the Guardian we met the picture editor Barry Lewis. During his talk he showed us a series of pictures of which one caught my eye and is the starting point for my project. The picture was of a small table propped against a wall. The wall had a collection of photographs and posters on it. There was also a mirror on the wall and in the mirror was the reflected image of an old lady. The image looked like just another one of the photographs on the wall.
The picture worked for me because of the connection between the old lady and the memories in the pictures and posters on the wall. However Barry Lewis told us that when he arrived to take the picture he saw the mirror and some of the items on the wall, but to make his photograph work he had to add a number of pictures and posters to those that were already on the wall. The photograph was more carefully set up than I had expected.
