Belle is French for a beautiful woman whereas in Italian it is plural, meaning 'beautiful women'. The Belle have metamorphosed over 30 years. The first of these photos was carried out as a bit of light hearted fun in response to a call for entries in a painting competition in 1988. As I was not a painter I did a facetious take on a well known painting. At the beginning the Belle were parodies of famous paintings, in which it was part of the game to compare my version with the original; but over the last few years the pictures have tended to be not so much based on the old masters, but inspired by them, the relationship more tenuous.