You may have seen him before here
This gorgeous image, the subject of which could so easily have been one of Edward Curtis's models, came courtesy of photographer Barnaby Hall. Thanks to a wonderful charitable initiative and Mr Hall's personal generosity (thank you!) in donating it, I was so delighted to receive this print in return for a small contribution to Artworks For Aid, who are raising money to help refugees at the 'Jungle' camp in Calais, a cause which I am very happy to be able to support.
I am mesmerised by those clear, expressive eyes - the kind of eyes that could make you fall in love, without the need for words, the kind of eyes that prompt so many questions: who were you? what kind of life did you lead? what were you doing that day... maybe 100 years ago? So I looked it up - by which I mean looked up the artist Barnaby Hall - to see if I could find out more about how this young man's enigmatic and quite haunting portrait could feature in his picture.
Oh wow!
He IS Barnaby Hall! The shot is an old passport photo of the man himself, taken by a street photographer in Brazil, from about 1971. Am I allowed to fall a little bit in love with the face of his younger self?!
I'm more a Sean Connery type of guy
ReplyDeleteWhatever floats your boat, Old Pa!
DeleteIt certainly is a very cool image.
ReplyDeleteCool lookin' dude.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, the eyes have it.....
ReplyDeleteHaha, I love that, a guy in a Victorian Mug Shot. Some faces just have that mysterious power, though, don't they? Perhaps especially if they can't speak!
ReplyDeleteI'm mindful not to embarrass the lovely Barnaby should he be reading so I'll just say I'm glad you agree about this particular image!
TS, SB and CA: Aye!
ReplyDeleteGin G: Indeed, the concept of the fund-raising is lovely - I bought this print, but send my money for it direct to the charity instead of to Barnaby. It's a really nice feel-good way of buying and selling some artwork.
Your part of the world sounds fascinating and beautiful (I've seen that too from your photos!) The only part of the US I've been to is NYC, but I would love to see more of NY State and to appreciate more the history of the native Americans, whose culture I find both interesting and admirable.
Great face -great cause - and is it me or does he bear a striking resemblance to Simon form my current Francophile obsession the wonderfully Mogwai soundtracked les revenants..?
ReplyDeletehttp://lesrevenants.wikia.com/wiki/Simon_DeLaitre
Lovely to see you here Bel Mondo! Ah yes, I can see a likeness to Monsieur DeLaitre. We have spoken about Les Revenants in my French class yet I *still* haven't watched it. Pitiful, I know!
DeleteThanks for this nice article,
ReplyDeletehow to look pretty