Park Portraits


A photographic project based in London’s Parks

Shot over a period of a couple of years, I lugged my large format camera through London’s parks and stopped people who I felt might make an interesting portrait as they passed by. Little did they know I would take up so much of their time, slowly maneuvering my old, unwieldy camera!

Parks are places in the city where people go to escape the frantic energy of urban life; they are places of refuge. I figured it would be an ideal place to pause and meet people, assuming that people might have more time.

Unlike Diane Arbus’s enigmatic, caught moments taken in parks, these were very much studies of the people I encountered. I became captivated by the changing seasons of the trees and would photograph them too, as they seem to also be like portraits.

Park Portraits by London photographer David Woolfall
A large tree trunk casting a shadow in a park with fallen leaves on the ground, green foliage in the background, and a clear sky overhead.
Park Portraits by London photographer David Woolfall
Park Portraits by London photographer David Woolfall-Hyde Park, London
Park Portraits by London photographer David Woolfall. Hyde Park, London
Two people lying on a park bench under trees in a green park setting.Park Portraits by London photographer David Woolfall
Park Portraits by London photographer David Woolfall, HydePark London
Artist in red jacket painting in Hydhe Park with a colorful palette.Park Portraits by London photographer David Woolfall
Autumn park scene with trees featuring red and yellow foliage, grass, and fallen leaves.
Park Portraits by London photographer David Woolfall
Leafless trees in a park with a red scarf hanging from a branch, green grass and fallen leaves on the ground, a person walking in the background.
Park Portraits by London photographer David Woolfall
Tree with yellow leaves in a park setting during autumn.
Park Portraits by London photographer David Woolfall
Park Portraits by London photographer David Woolfall