Death in the Afternoon

Whilst taking portraits of people during a pheasant-shoot, I took multiple frames in quick succession in order to capture the subjects blinking. Portrayed in this way the subjects seem to be withdrawn into a state of numb reflection. Their expressions, coupled with the bleakness of the snow-covered fields seem to echo the moments of death that were occurring throughout the afternoon of shooting.

“As time passes by and you look at portraits, the people come back to you like a silent echo. A photograph is a vestige of a face, a face in transit. Photography has something to do with death. It’s a trace”. Henri Cartier-Bresson

This project was a selected winner in the Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Exchange in 2011.