Jane Bown was a photographer who understood light and when it was right to capture a picture. She used very little equipment and natural light where possible. She preferred to shoot in black and white and specialised in portraits.

Demobbed from the Wrens in 1946 (aged 21), Bown attended Guildford School of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) and studied photography. After graduation, she started out as a family portrait photographer (weddings and children), but her style was perfectly suited to photojournalism, and picture editor Mechthild Nawiasky of the Picture Post and the Observer newspaper was the connection that took her into this profession. Bown subsequently worked for the Observer for most of her career, beginning with a photo shoot with philosopher and mathematician, Bertrand Russell (3rd Earl Russell) while he was having breakfast with is new wife (1949).

Bown went on to build an extensive photographic portfolio of celebrities, rock stars, gangsters, business people, politicians, military personnel, and royalty over the decades, along with more journalistic subjects including the Greenham Common protests, British holiday camps and the seaside, the Glastonbury Festival, seasonal workers, and everyday life.

Her work is unique in that it documents six decades of transition in social style, fashion, and entertainment - from Jayne Mansfield to Björk, Orson Wells and Samuel Bekket to Jarvis Cocker and John Lennon. Bown was far from star-struck and was sometimes unaware of exactly who she had in front of her camera, which served to dispel preconception, and with simple equipment and no team, her photo sessions were personal and relaxed.

Bown's sheer body of creative work and the way she artfully captured the moods and times in her portraits inevitably led to exhibitions, published books, and critical acclaim from well-known photographers, including Lord Snowdon. Bown took portraits of other known photographers, and two in particular had a similar approach and style to her own - the French humanist photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, and American photojournalist Eve Arnold.

Part of her skill was getting natural and candid pictures. Her subjects seem to be connecting to her rather than the camera. She was very astute when it came to her subjects and could sense a feeling about people and pick up clues about their character by listening and observing, and often captured them before they even thought about posing or getting themselves into 'photo shoot mode'. The self-portrait Bowen took in a mirror gives an indication of how it was to face her during a shoot. Looking, assessing, and connecting - waiting for that fleeting moment when the real person appears.

Bown was happy behind a camera and didn't seek celebrity herself, even though her work became recognised. She used a selection of old and new cameras including a high-end Rolleiflex, and manual SLR cameras, but she didn't move on to digital. If film on a roll is used, there are a specific number of shots per roll. This often meant there were one or two shots left at the end of a session. Bown had a tendency to seek out cats and use any spare film to take a few pictures.

If you have an interest in photography, Jane Bown is a great example of how to take a picture by developing an instinct and understanding how to make use of the existing conditions, rather than relying on a plethora of lights and technical equipment. If the light is right - take the picture before the moment has gone.

Jane Bown died in 2014 aged 89. Her technique and style has been superseded with modern equipment and studio techniques, but her images are irreplaceable as they capture a simple and honest spirit.

By Matt Sheen August MMXX - See video playlist for references

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