Jane Bown: 100 Portraits

King's Place Gallery, 23 October - 21 November 2009

Jane Bown had been taking portraits for The Observer since 1949 and in that time has photographed everyone from Bertrand Russell to the Beatles to Samuel Beckett to the Queen. Working almost exclusively in black and white and with an absolute economy of means her portraits are immediately recognisable and many have become classics of the genre.

Over the past few years, Jane's extensive archive has been catalogued for the first time leading to a significant reassessment of her work. The exhibition will showcase 100 of Jane's best photographs across her six-decade career. This will include many familiar images, however, a significant number will be drawn from previously unknown shoots.

Accompanying some of the images featured in the book EXPOSURES, published by Guardian Books to coincide with the exhibition, are Jane Bown's recollections of the day the pictures were taken, including anecdotes from, amongst others, her photo-sessions with Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Rudolph Nureyev and Vita Sackville-West.

The exhibition and book will confirm Jane Bown's reputation as one of Britain's most significant photojournalists and a portraitist with few peers.