PORTRAITS · ROTTINGDEAN, SALTDEAN & OVINGDEAN
Lightkeep portraits.
Our oldest generation is vanishing, and with them the only proof their lives were ever lived. On Brighton’s edge, elderly residents — many living alone — are lives that have never been thought worth recording.
Vivienne
Neil
Chris
Janet
CHRIS
Paul
“A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.”
— Edward Steichen
About the portraits
Made slowly, for the people who made this place.
The sitting
Each portrait is made in a single, unhurried session — at home or somewhere that matters to the sitter — as much conversation as photography. There is no studio and no styling; the photograph waits for the moment the person stops posing.
The image
Black and white removes everything but light, texture and expression. Every frame is finished by hand, holding deep blacks and full detail in skin, hands and eyes.
Why these people
LightKeep records older residents of Rottingdean, Saltdean and Ovingdean — people who remember the place as it was, and whose lives quietly hold its memory. The portraits are made while there is still time to make them.
Explore Vivienne’s portrait and story →
Explore Janet Leech’s portrait and story →
Who do you know?
Every portrait begins with a conversation.
We would love to meet older residents of Rottingdean, Saltdean, Ovingdean and the surrounding villages who would like to share their memories. No remarkable achievement or public profile is needed: ordinary lives hold extraordinary stories.
If you know someone—or if that someone is you—please get in touch.