Christmas Day, 2002, and we dived into my Uncles archives. It's later than '56 that shot, but we loaded magazine after magazine covering 60 years of his work, so i can't be sure of dates. After several hours of shooting still lifes with the Rollei projector and gels as our only source, Guy slid this projection in, and stood staring at the scene. Long enough i could use my spot F, and work out where to place focus. I wanted the old Kodachrome on the wall to be sharp, reflecting on how to my mind at least, values have become unclear in the years since. On reflection I wish I'd stopped down and caught the light play on my friend's face. But it was already half - posed, and i broadly dislike posed shots. Captured on Provia 400F, the projection was a early E14 shot on a Retina II.

(c) All rights reserved, John Kirby, 2002.