Character Relationship Map: Blow-Up

Characters

• Thomas (played by David Hemmings) — protagonist

  A photographer who secretly photographs two lovers in a park and becomes obsessed with enlargements that may reveal a shooting. He investigates the suspected crime, loses his negatives and prints, sea...

• Jane (played by Vanessa Redgrave) — protagonist

  A woman who is photographed secretly while with her lover in the park. Furious and desperate to recover the film, she confronts the photographer, flirts with him, gives him a false telephone number, a...

• Veruschka (played by Veruschka von Lehndorff) — supporting

  A model involved in a photo shoot at the photographer's studio. The photographer is late for their session and becomes bored and frustrated during the work.

• Ron (played by Peter Bowles) — supporting

  The photographer's agent. He has lunch with the photographer, later becomes cannabis-addled at a party, and refuses to accompany him to the park as a witness before persuading him to stay at the party...

• Mime (played by Claude Chagrin) — supporting

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Thomas → Veruschka (Professional Photographer And Model) — Veruschka works with Thomas in a professional modeling session.

  Thomas is late for a photo shoot with Veruschka at his studio.

• Thomas → Ron (Professional Agent And Client) — Ron is Thomas's professional agent and a recurring contact.

  Thomas meets his agent Ron for lunch and later calls Ron excitedly about the photographs.

• Thomas → Jane (Professional Photographic Subject) — Jane becomes the central photographic subject through whom Thomas discovers the apparent shooting.

  Thomas secretly photographs Jane and her companion in the park, then develops and enlarges the photographs in his studio.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Thomas → Mime (Social Audience Participant) — Thomas briefly joins the mimes' silent performance as a participant.

  Thomas watches the mime troupe perform a mock-tennis match and throws back the imaginary ball when asked.

Story Analysis

A photographer enlarges a casual image into a possible murder mystery, only to lose certainty about evidence, reality, and his own existence.

Plot Progression

1. A Photographer Out Of Focus — Thomas moves through his professional routine with boredom and impatience. His detour to Maryon Park begins when he secretly photographs Jane and an older man.
2. The Photograph Takes Control — Jane tries to recover the film, while Thomas studies the images in his studio. Enlargements transform an apparently casual encounter into a possible murder mystery.
3. Evidence Beneath The Bush — Thomas identifies what may be a gunman and a dead body in the photographs. He verifies the apparent body in the park, but returns to find his studio stripped of evidence.
4. Vanishing Evidence — Thomas follows Jane to a club and becomes caught in an absurd fight over a broken guitar neck. At Ron's party, he fails to secure a witness and later discovers that the body is gone.
5. The Imaginary Return — A mime tennis match offers Thomas a final chance to participate in an uncertain reality. After returning the imaginary ball, he fades from the image and leaves only the grass.