Professor John Brown, 1947 – 2019. Astronomer
About this artwork
This photograph of Professor John Brown is part of a series of portraits of leading astronomers by Lucinda Douglas-Menzies. Brown’s interest in astronomy stemmed from reading Sir Patrick Moore’s writings at the age of eight. Brown has since become Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow and the tenth Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Typical of Douglas-Menzies’s style, she has photographed Brown in his familiar surroundings of the Physics and Astronomy building at the University of Glasgow. He looks upwards and out of the composition as if deep in thought, possibly alluding to his role as a theorist. The lighting accentuates his forehead, which, combined with the image of the earth discernable in the background, calls to mind the moon orbiting the earth.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Lucinda Douglas-Menzies (born 1956) English
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title:Professor John Brown, 1947 – 2019. Astronomer
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date created:29 April 2008
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materials:Selenium toned gelatin silver print
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measurements:24.00 x 24.00 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased from the photographer 2008
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accession number:PGP 408.3
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
Lucinda Douglas-Menzies
Lucinda Douglas-Menzies
Douglas-Menzies was born in London and began her photography career as an assistant to Jeremy Whitaker, an architectural photographer, and Sidney Harris, a press and PR photographer. She then worked for Sotheby’s auction house as an in-house photographer before embarking on a freelance career in...