Jane Hope Bown was an English photographer who worked for The observer newspaper from 1949. Her portraits, primarily photographed in black and white and using available light, received widespread critical acclaim and her work has been described as "a kind of English Cartier-Bresson.
Bown began her career as a wedding portrait photographer until 1951, when Thomas put her in touch with Mechthild Nawiasky, a picture editor at The Observer. Nawiasky showed her portfolio to editor David Astor who was impressed and immediately commissioned her to photograph the philosopher Bertrand Russel. |
Bown worked primarily in black and white and preferred to use available light. Until the early 1960s, she worked primarily with a Rolleiflex camera. After, Brown used a 35mm Pentax SLR, before settling on the Olympus OM-1 camera, often using an 85mm lens.
Pentax SLR Olympus OM-1
Here are some examples of Jane Brown's Photography
Jane brown and her work
Jane Bown has over 50 years of practical experience as a professional photographer for the Observer newspaper. During the years she has became many people's favourite photographer, photographing many of the most famous individuals of the second half of the twentieth century.
In her own words, some photographers "make" pictures but she tries and "finds" them. Jane Bown waits and looks, manoeuvring herself around the subject, framing the image in the lens and then suddenly she will see the picture.
In her own words, some photographers "make" pictures but she tries and "finds" them. Jane Bown waits and looks, manoeuvring herself around the subject, framing the image in the lens and then suddenly she will see the picture.
She often says that her photographs are instinctive – she doesn't always know how to get it right, but she does know when it feels right. Every now and then she gets a "jackpot" picture just like the photographs of John Betjeman and Samuel Beckett. The Betjeman shots of 1972, show him roaring with laughter on the edge of a cliff, Jane always said, it was one of those sudden miracles that just happen. |