This year was the first I actually got round to entering some work into the NPG Taylor Wessing portrait prize. It has been my intention over the last few years to enter but something has either come up or I just missed the deadline. So I was pleased that this year I made the deadline and entered a few pieces. I was mildly disappointed yesterday to find out I didn’t make it through to the final stages but that wasn’t really the goal. Of course to have my photographs in the National Portrait Gallery would have been an amazing honour but the real feeling of achievement I got was just from producing new images. Photographs that I believed in personally, that didn’t have to conform to a brief or someone else’s creative vision.
And I got to photograph Charles. Charles is someone I have been wanting to photograph for a long time and this was the opportunity I needed. Charles is the father of a good friend of mine and you will rarely meet someone so dignified, calm and genuinely hospitable. He is from Ghana and the village he is from, his family are the ‘Chiefs’ of the village. Charles turned down the opportunity to become the chief, allowing the privilege to pass on to his brother, choosing to stay in London and raise his family instead. I am sure that he thought I was quite mad wanting to photograph him, however he was more than gracious with his time and I felt I was able to capture the serenity that he embodies.
The other piece of work I entered was a portrait of a sports climber, who I photographed as part of a ongoing project. I shot this on medium format black & white film to give me the texture that I felt would match the scene.
I love the wide photo of the would-be-Chief. I think the juxtaposition of his cultural outfit against his London flat backdrop work very powerfully. Nice work too with the use of different mediums-you are a truly talented photographer.
Wes, those shots are great! I love the texture of the climber photo, smoke and all! I can’t wait to see more.