Face Value Photographic Portraits

I started working on this project in April 2023 after coming across a vintage stamp album in my late father's belongings. This album contains stamps from as early as the 1860s and has been beautifully annotated over the years. It was started by either my grandfather or great grandfather.

The stamps captivated me with their beauty and narratives. I found it fascinating how these stamps held historical significance, representing places that had undergone various transformations like name changes, border shifts, changes in allegiances, independence movements, or marked specific moments in time, such as wartime occupations. I have been using these stamps to categorise the diverse range of stamps in the collection, spanning from republics to kingdoms, from the Vatican to Monaco, and everything in between.

My approach involved reaching out to individuals with intriguing stories to feature in portraits, incorporating elements from the stamps into the final artwork. The process has been organic so far - as I engage with people from different backgrounds, I listen to their stories and invite them to participate in the project.


This project has been my main creative focus during this time, and I work on it whenever time and inspiration allow. There are still many stamps waiting to be matched with subjects, and if you know someone with an interesting story, please refer them to me, as this project is likely to continue for a lifetime! I am also taking commissions for this work - it makes a very unique and enduring gift for somone who has connections to their ancestral home.

I hope you enjoy the photographic portraits I have created so far.