Mary MeCartney literally started life in front of the camera. The firstborn child of pop musician Paul and his photographer wife Linda was introduced to the world when a baby. But since then, she has, in her own words, “used the camera to hide behind” and is far more comfortable putting others in the limelight (镁光灯) than standing in it herself. For the child of a pop legend, her unstarry approach is arresting-no sooner am I up the stairs to her studio, than she rushes down them to make me tea. “I like mixing into the background,” she says on her return, holding out my cup. “It’s my job. Though I can be quite noisy and direct sometimes. I think the book shows my character it has more reflective, quiet moments and then some in-your-face bits. That’s me.

We meet in her large, airy studio in north London, where McCartney is browsing through her new book, From Where I Stand, a retrospective of her work from the past 15 years. It is exactly as she just described it—a collection of personal photographs of her family and friends, together with sometimes surprising portraits of stars and lesser-known sitters. What is striking about all the images is their naturalness. There is minimal lighting and little of the high gloss (光泽) association with other leading portrait photographers.

The artist Sir Peter Blake, a close family friend of the McCartneys, told me recently about a project he and Mary worked on for the charity Sport Relief, which involved her photographing the boxer Ricky Hatton for a portrait that Blake would paint from. “We turned up there in this gym on the Harrow Road, all big boxers, an almost unfriendly environment, and Mary just got to it, so quietly, figuring out who did what. Within minutes they were eating out of her hand. It was just like watching her mother at work.”

While McCartney frequently shoots catwalk shows and campaigns for fashion’s biggest names. Chrissie Hynde, the singer and close friend, describes her thus: “I think you could say, at the expense of possibly losing her a job or two, that Mary is the opposite of a fashion photographer.” It is clearly meant as a compliment, but what does Hynde mean? McCartney explains that she just isn’t a very on-trend kind of person. It’s a surprising statement from the sister of one of Britain’s leading designers, but a quick glance at what she is wearing reveals it to be true.

My initial exploration of the world of comic books happened through the comic strips (连环漫画) in newspapers. It began with a fondness for Garfield and his adventures, and led to the discovery of a range of comic books like Champak, Tintin, and Archie. They enabled me to enjoy myself in a world without iPads and the Internet — just like so many of my friends who were fond of reading.

While my access to comics as a child was limited to what was printed in the newspaper, this changed once I grew older and started visiting bookstores to buy the books that I wanted to read. Having grown up on a diet of image-heavy books, I found the idea of reading text-only novels quite formidable. As I searched for books that lay somewhere in between, I came across a copy of Bhimayana — a graphic novel (漫画小说). It felt familiar due to its comic-like theme and design. Plus, understanding complex narratives through pictures was relatively easier and more fun. And so, as I grew older, I found myself changing towards graphic novels from childish comic books.

Graphic novels dealt with serious topics in a more interesting manner. They would truly show me what was going on. For example, when I was reading Joe Sacco’s Palestine, I did not have to imagine the ruin caused by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I could actually see it while reading about it.

Fast-forward a few years to when I was given a copy of Jonathan Bloomfield’s Palestine: A Novel. Though I was impressed by the compelling (扣人心弦的) nature of storytelling in his book, I am not sure if I would have been able to visualise and enjoy his text-only version so much had I not read Sacco’s Palestine first. Thanks to the graphic novel, I had a “picture” of whatever had happened, and that made it easier and more fun to understand the details of the overall story.

From black and white strips and colourful comic books to illustrated graphic novels, this type of storytelling has come a long way. While my romance with comic books is still ongoing, in the long run, my love for graphic novels is stronger and here to stay.