Peter Jordan 2009

Oliver Mark made this portrait of Peter Jordan with a camera sometime in the recent past, and looking at it, I think about how portraiture can be a collaborative process between sitter and photographer. The way the light falls across Jordan's face, and the texture of his suit, it feels deliberate, like a painter carefully choosing their brushstrokes. The setting itself, a sort of gentleman's club plastered with boxing memorabilia, adds another layer. It's almost theatrical, staged but authentic. I am thinking about the way the photographer uses the setting to convey Peter Jordan's character and interests. It reminds me a bit of the way Gerhard Richter uses found images as a starting point for his paintings, layering meaning and ambiguity. Ultimately, this photograph is about more than just capturing a likeness; it's about constructing an image, creating a fiction that hopefully reveals some deeper truth. And in that sense, it's very much like painting.