Both Frank and Jenny have liked these photos. Frank points out that they are harsh, a good word and accurate. Frank is good at that sort of thing.
The photos are harsh because the light was too hard. If I had more expensive equipment with me I would have devised softer light but since I thought it was likely to be a boozy day and my capacity for alcohol is limited these days I only took basic kit.
Nevertheless I think there is some truth in these photos. I like them and I think Frank looks good. In particular in years to come if he looks back at them he too will think them to be rather good.
Although I do sometimes take photos of models this is not my thing, for various reasons. I like character. I like the lines, the dents and the bumps that show a person has lived.
That's why if you look at the great Disney version of Treasure Island you will see that Jim Hawkins gets less poster coverage than Long John Silver. He simply hasn't lived enough.
I think the good will and the tremendous intellect Frank has shines through his photos. You can see this is a character, in a way you could not possibly see it if his face was a distant smudge.
And what exactly is the purpose of pretending we all have no blemishes, no blotches and a perfectly matched two hemispheres of our face?
It is the fascism of photoshop. The idea that we can all be young and beautiful if we click our ballet shoes together three times and say 'I believe'.
Well I don't believe and I don't want to photograph the young and beautiful, well I don't want to exclusively photograph the young and beautiful. For one thing they are boring. They are all the same.
For another one of the reasons for the epidemic of self loathing in the world, which manifests itself in everything from slimming diseases to teenage suicide, is the exclusive concentration on youth and beauty.
Not that Frank isn't beautiful in his own way, but his beauty requires more time to see and these days picture editors don't believe their audience has the time to look.
The camera can be an uncompromising microscope but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and if you are not pre-conditioned to see every blemish as ugliness you can find beauty in these photos.
Jonathan Brind