If you open The Sunday
Times magazine today you will come across an incredible story about a poet and
Second World War veteran and a Golden Globe winning actress. I had the pleasure
to take their portrait.
The “Relative Values” is
a weekly feature of The Sunday Times Magazine about two relatives and their
relationship. When I got a call to photograph Ruth and Dennis B Wilson who only
found out they were related less than a decade ago, I had no idea what to expect.
I won’t give away too much of that story, but I can tell you it’s a
“straight-from-a-spy-novel” one.
I met Ruth and Dennis on
a day when their large family was organising a gathering at Ruth’s parents’
place in Warminster. The house was busy and they were both excited to see each
other. In the hustle and bustle I had only a short moment to take a portrait
which would tell you something about their relationship.
A relationship is a great thing to photograph. When I
work with just one sitter often I am in the leading position: coming up with
ideas, giving directions, encouraging my subject to reveal themselves to me for
the best image possible. Relationships are different - they simply happen.
There will be an ambient around two people who know one another without anyone
trying. The conversation will flow, the stories are there, the relatives are
relaxed in their own surroundings and company. As a photographer my job was
almost not to interfere here - I can take a backseat, watch two people being themselves
around each other and … snap: a relationship captured in a still frame.
Labels: actor, actress, dennis wilson, editorial, portrait, relative values, ruth wilson, sunday times magazine, writer
