Make Yourself a Lovely Portrait is a series of photographs created in a nod towards a classical art of portraiture. In the very beginning of photography, when only few could afford to have a camera, photo sessions were considered as unique and special events, for which people would dress up and look their best.

The idea of hand painted backgrounds used in old portrait studios, people posing in dignity, distant and focused, being almost beyond themselves; all this creates a specific atmosphere which, on the one hand, restricts with the rigidity of its form: stiff official poses, limited face expressions; on the other hand though, paradoxically thanks to these restrictions, it allows models to relax and reveal their true self.