a moment in time

I had an appointment this morning with a woman I didn't know, to take her portrait for my "Humans of Dumfries and Galloway" Facebook page. Somehow I seem to be realising the idea I had on leaving school and going to uni to study English - I wanted to be a journalist. Well...things changed, but here I am 35 years later, with a camera and a little black notebook. Journalism of a kind, I guess..
I really enjoy the challenge of taking portraits in natural light and having to think quickly about settings and angles. Trying to capture the essence of a person I may only have met half an hour earlier.

I came across these old photos in my study today - I bought them in a junk shop when I was a teenager . They fascinated me then and they fascinate me now. Small children dressed up in their best clothes, taken to a studio and made to stand very still in front of a very large camera... Obviously I shall never know who they were or what became of them...