Dame Judi Dench as performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and at Old Vic Theatre. She is a ten-time BAFTA winner including Best Actress in a Comedy Series for A Fine Romance (1981) in which she appeared with her husband, Michael Williams, and Best Supporting Actress in A Handful of Dust (1988) and A Room with a View (1985). She received an ACE award for her performance in the television series Star Quality: Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill (1985). She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1970, a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1988 and a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 2005.
Dame Judi sat for a portrait to be featured in my Selah Exhibition at her home last month. The sitting gave me the chance to experiment with a series of interesting expressions and characters. The session lasting just over a short period of 15 minutes, I was able to capture a portfolio of truly spontaneous and unique portraits.
It’s not unusual for photographers to be inspired by other types of art. As you may have noticed their is a great deal of Renaissance Italian influence in my portraiture. Drawing inspiration from the Old Master painters like Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Titian and Ribera. I have attempted to masterfully recreate the light, atmosphere and tones of classical portrait paintings. This is even more apparent in my latest project entitled Selah.
So much of the portraiture commissioned in the press and print industry is reluctant to take risks. I want to challenge that safety and introduce moments of spontaneity and awkwardness. Too often portraits of people, famous or even notorious, are aggrandising and sycophantic. I want to strip back the artifice and enforce strangeness and quietness in its place.