Lindsey Mott - Colin Gray

Colin Gray

The technical decisions made by Colin Gray in his series "In Sickness and in Health" demonstrate unconventional ways to capture someone's portrait, and even go as far as to challenge the conventional idea of a portrait. One way he does this is by selectively focusing on objects other than the subject's face such as their hands, flowers, etc. Like more conventional photographers, his subjects are against simple dark or patterned backgrounds, so the person in the photograph remains the main focus.

The overall theme of the series is readily apparent: the death of a spouse. His photographs are intensely intimate. His parents' faces are often obscured, which may allude to the difficultly that he and his father had in coming to terms with what was happening. They also contain many references to the past. As the title of the series suggests, sickness is only one side of the coin here, alluding to happier times.

I'm inspired by the fact that Gray's photographs tell a very personal story. Also, that he was able to, as a photographer, photograph a subject that was deeply important to him in a way that was unexpected and not at all cliche. For me, he also expands the possibility of what a "portrait" of someone can be, and encourages me to incorporate elements of a person's story into their portrait.