Emma Louise (Lou) Page (1970-2013) was an Edinburgh resident and charity worker who was diagnosed with bone cancer and died in 2013. The image boldly presents her as both defiant and vulnerable facing death. Although known for his celebrity images, this photograph was part of an exhibition project, ‘Alive: In the Face of Death’, which documented many less well-known figures. His project is, in many ways, inspired by the critic and writer, Susan Sontag, who wrote: ‘To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s mortality. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt.’