OUR four-page photographic celebration of the Queen’s 70-year reign last Friday attracted much comment. Most of it was positive, which is nice. It’s always heartening when our hard work is recognised.
However, we did receive a few letters criticising my choice of image for the back page. Such feedback is welcome, but some explanation is required.
The point of the exercise was to take the reader on a visual journey of the Queen’s life as our monarch. The picture selected for the back page (one of 70 marking the Queen’s 70 years on the throne compiled by the PA news agency) was in my opinion a lovely, playful image of Her Majesty taken in recent years.
Some of readers disagreed.
We had messages saying that it portrayed her in a poor light and that I was being disrespectful in selecting it. The image depicted the Queen peeking from behind a curtain with fun and warmth in her eyes.
Yes, it showed a woman who has lived a long and full life with all the wrinkles and blemishes you would expect of a woman of that age, but it also showed that she has retained her zest for life and, remarkably, was still having fun in yet another photocall.
These letters made me wonder: do we live in a society so obsessed with youth and looks that we can’t show the passage of time in a person’s face?
To my knowledge the Queen has never succumbed to cosmetic surgery and apparently has always done her own make-up for public engagements and photocalls.
This is to be commended – we live in a world of filters and tools to enhance the way we look beyond the point of recognition, so the fact that the most famous woman in world feels so comfortable in her own skin that she doesn’t feel the need for these gimmicks makes this image more endearing in my opinion.
I am aware that the readers who complained were trying to defend Her Majesty’s honour when voicing their opinions.
It has brought home to me again how two people can look at the same image and take a completely different viewpoint on what it portrays.
In the case of this image I will have to respectfully disagree
with them.
I stand by my choice and am glad I had the chance to show the Queen in this human way as well as all the youthful images of the young monarch from earlier celebrations.
I was most definitely not being disrespectful – I have the upmost respect for someone who is still working and serving her country even in her nineties.
I thank you for your letters.
Positive or negative, I always appreciate and welcome debate about good photography.
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