Kate Friend

I first saw Kate Friend’s photographs earlier this year and my response was immediate. I was drawn to their particular alchemy – the simplicity of a single, painterly flower set against a background of rich, unrelenting colour. The fact that each was a portrait was somehow immediately apparent. I am delighted that now, several months later, we are presenting this body of work, ‘As Chosen By…’, at the gallery. 

Friend has a rigorous approach to the making of this series – a single flower and vessel, chosen by the sitter and shot in natural light at their home, studio, or garden. Very often she meets her subject for the first time when she arrives to take the photograph. The coloured background for each image is selected by Friend and this is driven both by the aesthetic of the chosen flower as well as by a deeper intuitive sense of her sitter’s character.