This is one of those photographs that does exactly what I want an image to do: it asks questions.

Who is this man?
Why is he here, in this particular room?
What’s the story behind the cabinet of china, the clock, the chair, the accumulation of objects that feel anything but random?

I was genuinely delighted with this photograph of Revd Fr Anthony Searle, the Team Rector of All Saints Church, High Wycombe. It was taken for a magazine article in 2024, and it’s one of those frames where everything quietly came together.

This photograph is a good reminder of why I find portrait photography so rewarding.

When we started, the subject was — by her own admission — not entirely comfortable in front of the camera. Not resistant, not awkward, just gently guarded. That familiar combination of politeness and self-consciousness that so many people bring with them: I’m not photogenic, I don’t really know what to do, just tell me where to stand.

I see that a lot. And I’ve come to enjoy it.