The British photographer saw an echo of a famous painting when he shot three strangers in a Toronto gallery

While in Toronto on a work shoot, Martin James Burton decided to take the opportunity to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario. The photojournalist, who is based in Lewes, East Sussex, England, had some lunch before heading in to see the art. While there he happened upon these three strangers. “The people in the picture are sitting waiting either for nothing to happen or for something to happen. There is a feeling of the surreal to it and an odd sense of anticipation,” Burton says. “The man with his head turned towards you draws you in, and the huge bright, blank screen is like a giant softbox lighting the subjects perfectly.”

Burton remembers his excitement at taking the shot: he immediately knew that he had captured something unusual. He also saw a resemblance to the painting Nighthawks, by American artist Edward Hopper, which portrays four people in a downtown diner at night. “I’ve always thought that photography has its own individual place in art, but when a photograph resembles a particular painting or style, it may give it an extra kudos – particularly if it’s not preconceived,” he says.