Portraiture offers a unique opportunity to explore both personal connections and more abstract aesthetic concerns. The subject matter has always been important to me: I like to capture people I know on a personal level. It excites me to photograph and paint close friends and family members as opposed to strangers because I can capture a likeness and an individual's personality better this way. I chose to photograph my friend's band Ayakara when they came up to Dundee for their first gig on their recent tour. I asked them to stand in front of a wall of graffiti which would allow me to paint more abstract shapes in the background. I also choose to use very vibrant colours to represent the Indie, psychedelic scene these people are associated with. I wanted to capture them in their prime, in the midst of their growing success as a band - self-conscious figures about to go head first into an unknown, but possibly exciting future. I like to work with loose abstract styles whilst also using realism in the figure to contrast. Emily Watson
