Jane Bown: Observer

Jane Bown's photographs are telling, distinctive and completely unaffected. She admits to no technique other than an uncluttered approach and a firm belief in the use of natural light. Such immediacy, coupled with a unique sensitivity towards her subjects, has resulted in a lifetime of intuitive and expressive images. This book selects from the whole range of her photography during the forty-five years she has worked for London's Observer, starting with scenes typical of the fifties and ending with others characteristic of the nineties. The portraits, sandwiched between these and forming the body of the book, themselves range widely - from such proven classics as those of Samuel Beckett, Mick Jagger and John Gielgud, to early studies of the Beatles and recent photos of Alan Bennett, Archbishop Tutu, Boy George and Woody Allen among a great variety of famous people in the worlds of music, literature, stage, screen, politics and the arts. Singly and collectively they reveal the compassion, perceptiveness and humor of Jane Bown's vision both as public and private observer.