I am often asked if I take photos of anything other than people and the answer is yes - but not that often. The reason I take portraits is because I truly believe that the human face is endlessly interesting. different emotions can be conveyed by the tilt of a head, glint in an eye or the shape of a smile. I read somewhere that humans are the only mammals who show the whites of our eyes, which is an aid to communication and apparently coincided with our language development. Even when we hide our face with makeup or deliberately distort our features we still show signs of our character - especially with our eyes. The Portrait below is of John from The Low Lights Tavern - my all time favourite pub. Even though John was dressed for Halloween you can still see that behind the ghoulish make up he is a fun, warm and friendly guy.
"Bad Santa? - see the image here on flickr
Apparently there is an exception to prove every rule - So the image below of my spooky Halloween fiancee - whom is one of the kindest people I know - looks incredibly scary!
"The Haunting" - see the image here on flickr
For a truly amazing collection of portraits check out Steve McCurry's Portraits - one of my all time favourite photographers and a massive inspiration to many photographers of all kinds,
