“‘Venus’s Mirror’ - a medium format (620 film) portrait is one such work, and an excellent example of just what inspires me to recreate specific artworks from antiquity. But I will get into that next, firstly i must note another part of my inspiration; portrait painting prevailed as one of the most common and popular mediums of painting until, coincidentally enough, the advent of photography. Something that seemingly did not translate from canvas to the first silver/copper sheets of portrait photography, is the grandiose conceptuality that was generally on display. Without the need to sit for long periods of time I feel the focus shifted entirely to the subject - why paint something elaborate or conceptual when the picture can capture everything exactly as it is (let the picture speak for itself ring a bell?). ‘Venus’s Mirror’, or as it is popularly known ‘The Rokeby Venus’ has been on my todo list for an insanely long time; one because of the work itself (it’s an amazing reversal of the typical depictions of venus, a masterful blending of techniques, schools of thought, and cultural perspectives.) and two because of its turbulent history. I decided against the inclusion of a cherub to not distract/detract from the overall composition, and I felt the addition of a cherub in post would ultimately look and feel out of place. The attack from the suffragette has been included in this rendition, with physical cuts (just makeup) on Venus’s back. I chose to include this in a nod to the history of the work rather than to create my own dialogue - I don’t think I could come up with anything better than the suffragette who, emboldened and outraged by the government’s treatment of fellow suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, took a knife to a portrait of history’s most beautiful woman.

This project has been an attempt to recapture that ‘classical beauty’ - to bring classical paintings into a photo-centric modern day; a celebration and recognition of the art that has inspired generations of artists, and will likely continue to do so.”

“My practice is many-fold, finding many different inspirations and focal points; from nature and more casual portraiture to working with film and intimately understanding the editing process - one photo can be edited in a multitude of ways, each affecting the tone and mood of the composition. However lately I have found myself focusing on more conceptual and staged portraits, each heavily inspired by classical art and popular culture.”