The Reader

What reading leaves behind

Reading leaves no obvious mark on a face. That is what makes it difficult to photograph. We began among old paintings and books; by the final portraits, the books have gone. Her attention remains.

Woman in a trench coat crossing a sunlit red-brick street, bag over her shoulder

Woman in a beige trench against the red-brick museum facade, hands in pockets

Close portrait of a woman in a trench coat over a white shirt, glancing back over her shoulder

Woman in a trench coat sitting on a chair before the tall glass doors of a Victorian museum

Woman in a trench coat standing in a white sculpture hall, caught mid-turn

Woman standing in an empty museum hall, staircase rising behind her

Woman in a trench walking across a mosaic floor beneath a vast old-master painting

Woman in a trench looking up at a painting in a dim gallery

Long-haired woman shielding her eyes with her hand in a dark picture gallery

Dark silhouette of a woman in a trench walking away through a museum gallery

Woman gazing up at a bronze sculpture pair in a bright cast court

Woman sitting in a gilded window bay above a mosaic floor, looking out

Woman reading a red-covered book at a table beneath stained-glass windows

Woman alone with a book at a small round table in an empty museum cafe

Reader at her table seen through the glass of a green panelled door

Woman seen from behind reading a newspaper in a dim panelled cafe, chandelier glowing beyond

Woman at a museum cafe table with an open book, chin on her hand, looking to the window

Hands with lacquered nails turning the pages of a photography book on a white table

Woman in a white shirt leaning across a cafe table, ringed hands folded, looking into the lens

Woman in a white shirt and jeans reclining on sweeping white concrete steps under a modern glass roof

Close portrait of a woman in a white shirt with drop earrings, looking into the lens

Close portrait in a crisp white shirt with drop earrings, gaze steady

Black and white figure in a white shirt leaning against a stone parapet in a museum courtyard

Black and white close portrait of a smiling woman holding her trench over her shoulder

Black and white portrait, hands raised behind her head, trench collar open

Woman in a trench coat with crossed arms in a museum hall, a vast painting behind her

Black and white portrait between marble columns, hair loose over a white blouse

Close portrait with crossed arms in a white shirt, dark drapery behind

Black and white portrait of a long-haired woman in a white shirt, arms crossed

Black and white full portrait, one hand on the wall, jeans and a loose white shirt

Black and white portrait of a woman in a white shirt leaning against a doorway

Next project

The Square Mile