The White Bride, 2004

What beautiful strength she carries. That's how we all wanted to look when we grew up, only... uh - do you think it's too late? I'm almost 58. Nice portrait. I just wonder if it's possible to bring out more detail in her face, or did the brightness of the light blow it out?

Hi Janet, thank you for the kind comment.

I took several photographs of this lady performing, but this was the one that epitomised to me her strength, elegance, and poise. The light on her face was very strong (a single spot directly above (the faces in the audience were lit purely by spill from the stage), but there is detail on the negative, and I have more on the original print.

But, because of the narrative of the performance, and her role at this point, I chose to leave the facial detail as more suggestion than clear (choosing to print what is already a contrasty negative at grade 3 1/2, and pre-flashing the paper to allow the facial detail to come through). For me, it still strongly evokes the emotion I felt whilst watching the performance.

And never say it is too late