The figure sculptures and stained glass windows of the gothic cathedrals of France have been something I've photographed for many years, but it was only on a recent visit to Chartres and Reims Cathedrals that I began a new series of mobile phone images of the characters depicted in the portals of these monumental gothic buildings. The figures are a mixture of historical and apochryphal characters that seem to reflect the challenges of Christian belief - what is fact and what is fiction?

 

In conjunction with these sculptural explorations, the glories of the 13c stained glass of these cathedrals is likewise a fascination and has resulted in these first extrapolations from a series of windows. On removing the faces from their surroundings, and retaining the framing of the faces as delineted by the glazing bars, a strange portrait of each un-named character is made manifest.