Photography: Gritty Images, True Personality
I’ve have a great admiration for the portraiture of the distinguished British Photographer Sally Soames. Her work has, to my mind, a gritty quality that, without being unflattering, pierces to the very centre of her sitter’s being.
This is no mean skill and recently I thought I would attempt to emulate her style with some images of some friends. Sally was appalled when she saw them. They were turning up all over the Internet, as if she had taken them, when people attempted an image search for examples of her work.
“PLEASE, do me the greatest favour by removing those ghastly weak photo’s which you have used on your website”, she wrote. Then to rub salt in the wound she sent me an example of what a gritty image really can be.
“Here is Tony Blair, just before the election
which made him Prime Minister.”
Image copyright Sally Soames, and used here with her permission.
P.S. Every photographer will do well to listen carefully to those who are masters of their craft. Photography isn’t about cameras, or lenses, or even technique. It’s about communication. Photographers rarely use words to communicate, although some can write. This image of Tony Blair is a gift from Sally to me. It is at once a lesson, an expression of her incisiveness, and a wonderful image of Tony Blair devoid of all the spin and hype that frequently accompanied him during his time in office.
