End frame: Nuevo Laredo, Mexico 1996, by Alex Webb

Chris Pattison

I am a full time web developer and UX designer, and part time photographer. Most of my images are made close to home in Hartlepool, but I am drawn to the uncelebrated landscape of the North Pennines for its solitude, emptiness and family connection.

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“It looks like a painting,” said my youngest, the instant I showed her this photograph by Alex Webb, having chosen it to discuss as my favourite image.

I asked her why she thought this, and she replied that it was the way the people were arranged in the photograph.

My wife chipped in and suggested it looked staged. It isn’t, but I can see why she would think that. The theatrical light illuminating the amorous couple on the right and the man and child in the background silhouetted against the bright, pastel wall of the registry office. It’s also the almost perfect placing of all the players across the canvas.

Alex Webb has been capturing the world in vibrant colour for over 40 years, since a trip to Haiti in 1979 transformed his practice; leaving behind the monochrome of many street photographers before him. In central America he discovered a world of cultural crossroads, vibrant colour and febrile politics. Magnum Photos took note and he became a full member that same year.