Mark Mortensen, Contemplating life with a Guinness (PEOPLE & PORTRAIT 2025)

Tucked away in a quiet corner of the ‘Public’ in Manuka, I stumbled upon a scene that felt entirely out of place yet oddly timeless—a solitary gentleman in a long coat, his hat tilted just so, seated before a perfectly poured pint of Guinness. The setting could have easily belonged to a narrow Dublin alleyway or a smoky Paris café, thick with stories and quiet reflection. There was a calm stillness about him, a man lost in thought or memory, unbothered by the bustle beyond the window. As I raised my lens to capture this pocket of old-world charm, he turned his gaze directly toward me—not startled, not annoyed, but with a quiet knowing, as if he had been expecting this moment all along.

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