PORTFOLIO EM FOCO

Portrait photographer research:

http://paratyemfoco.com/en/portfolios/paul-oleary/

PORTFOLIO EM FOCO

PAUL O'LEARY

NAME
We’ll live and die in these towns

"As a documentary photographer, I tried to record the time that we live, record the lives of others and, indirectly, mapping my own time on this planet. My vision is guided by curiosity.
My work has been shown across Europe in solo and group exhibitions. Recently, worked with different agencies on projects related to the Olympics in England. Isso culminou no meu trabalho rodando pela Inglaterra através do National Screening Programme da BBC.
Currently, I teach photography in the UK.”



This is a really interesting series of portrait images. I think whats important about these images is how well they work in a series rather than on their own. The feel or theme i get from these images is a very down to earth representation of what id surmise are working class people in the UK. Many look typically british in the way they're dressed, and factors such as tattoos and holding booze. It could be argued this is not a very fair representation of british people as although interesting characters seem to have been chosen for the images, as someone who lives in britian i know that not all british people look this way or are groomed to this standard. It really does seem the photographer has selected a certain social class of people for the images. Never the less the people chosen all look like interesting people and make the portraits intriguing to look at. 

My favourite images are the images taken of pairs and couples. I feel it makes the viewer think about what the relation between the two might be. I personally question the relationship between the two people, whether i think they know each other or not, and often find myself comparing the two. Portraits of people are interesting enough with just one person alone, never mind having two characters in one image to look at. It appears easier to fill the frame in an interesting way when photographing two people, which is something i really like the idea of in portraits. This is something id like to incorporate in my own work.