BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY > 'Who or what are the gargoyle type figures snarling in the background supposed to represent?'

'You've got to hand it to The Girls (the duo of Zoe Sinclair and Andrea Blood): since leaving art college in the summer, they have featured in the John Kobal Portrait Awards, been signed up by Hamiltons, won The Observer Hodge Award and generally created a big buzz. At the private view for the Hodge Award someone wryly observed to me: 'They are going to be the Gilbert and George of the photography world.' This may have something to do with their slightly eccentric attire - after all how many photographers only wear nurses' uniforms - but they are more than just a gimmick. The Girls are also very skilled and dedicated image makers, combining traditional photography with electronics to create this remarkable image, ‘The Embodied Soul Passes Through Girlhood To Death’, which both amuses and bemuses in equal measure. Who or what for example, are the gargoyle type figures snarling in the background supposed to represent? This image was created with the prize money, from The Observer Hodge, but the size at which it is reproduced here does not quite give it justice. Go and work it out for yourself at The Photographers' Gallery in central London before 28 November.' Reuel Golden

Reproduced courtesy of The British Journal of Photography