John Merrill
"Portrait as Landscape" is a series of monochrome images featuring the faces of middle-aged male neighbours that evoke questions as to the nature of both photography and portraiture. Although the images are photographic (lit. drawing with light), they resemble drawings with pencil. Whilst the subject matter is the face, in revealing every nook, cranny and blemish they have more in common with landscape than portraits in any conventional sense. They explore terrain and not personality, but though superficial they are not shallow.
John Merrill is a Manchester-based artist whose work is mainly photographic. In 2013 he exhibited at "Look 13", the Liverpool International Photography Exhibition, and was photographer for the Modernist Society's artist in residence programme celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic "Toastrack" building. In a former life he was a psychiatrist.
