When I was recently in Latvia I was invited to visit the studio of Atis Jakobsons. While admiring his work, a conversation started fuelled by a portrait he had just created. This striking image, of a woman’s curving back, generated a discussion between Atis, Phil Toledano and the rest of us in the room about the visual power of an image without a face. Words like mystery, depth and intrigue were thrown around and it inspired me to create the series below.

What do you think about these portraits? What message do they impart, which one do you react to most strongly, why? Please leave your comments below.

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