Jason Bell: An Englishman in New York

I picked up the paper today and saw a great article that ticks all my boxes.

New york. Photography. Britishness. People. Portraiture.

The article and interview discussed Jason Bell's photography exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery (from 24th August), showcasing his beautiful imagery of british people/celebrities who have moved to New York to fulfil their childhood dream.

Sitters include the likes of Kate Winslet, Jana Kennedy, Hamish Bowles, Sean Kavanagh-Dowsett (an englishman, who looks slightly italian) who owns A Salt and Battery fish 'n' chip shop and the Tea and Sympathy cafe. It was in this specific cafe that Bell was working in, on a shoot and thought of the ideas surrounding British people moving to the 'capital of the world' and decided to pursue this through his photography, resulting in this exhibition. From the images in the newspaper, the exhibition looks like it's going to be exceptional.

Portraiture....friend or foe???

I was thinking today about how a stylist actually works and how a photographer actually works and ways that the roles of these two professions can be challenged.

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Portraiture
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I would think it would be quite difficult for a stylist to show a character through a portrait shot, accessories could be used to show the characters personality, a quirky hat, or a satin bow tie maybe: there makeup and hair could help evoke their persona. For a photographer, their direction for the model would be probably the best way to show the character of the model or the sense of the image that needs to be portrayed.

I love the idea of a simple portrait shot and being able to work out the model: either there real self or a perception you create for the model. Before Andy Warhol created his screen prints he took a portrait shot of his models and from these portrait shots you can immediately begin to sense a character for the model.