Saturday 26 June 2010

Portraits



After work last night, I walked down to the National Portrait Gallery to see the annual BP Portrait Award exhibition, which opened this week (yes, I did hear a Radio 3 arts pundit asking someone from the gallery if long-term sponshorship was at risk). 
Saw a lot of fabulous technique and some very interesting concepts, but nothing that absolutely grabbed me. To be fair, though, last thing on a very, very tired, hot Friday, I'm probably close to ungrabbable. Looking at portraits did have an effect: coming out into the still bright evening, my eyes kept framing pictures.

8 comments:

Fire Bird said...

i just realised - these people are dancing! fantastic! and i enjoyed the flikr set too.

Natalie said...

Oh oh oh oh! How absolutely beautiful! How did you manage to capture this?

Jan said...

Wonderful shots. You make a hot, crowded street scene into beautiful glimpses of individuals' experiencing the summer.

Beth said...

Jean, these are absolutely wonderful photographs! I especially like the black-and-white ones - the men on the edge of the fountain, the couple outside the restaurant, the walking person framed by leaves - but I wouldn't want to have to pick a favorite from the whole batch. Please do more!

Dale said...

Now I wonder why your London photos remind me so much of good wildlife photography. There's a sort of evenhanded benevolence to it. "I went out and this is what the human beings were doing today!"

Zhoen said...

City Dance.

marja-leena said...

Oh, Jean, these are beautiful, stunning! I too love the black and white but really all of them. Those people sitting in a row in front of the National Gallery facing Trafalgar Square - I remember sitting there on a hot afternoon last year!

Dick said...

I love the strange long-distance intimacy that is suggested here: one musician looking straight ahead and two far apart dancers and yet all three in association. Beautiful, Jean.