Although the atmosphere has similarities with Johnston's work, mainly in composition and coloring, the work of Lawson follows an even more formalistic and static approach.

I have the tendency to approach Lawson's images if they were paintings from Vermeer, or an other baroque master. I mean the necessity to read trough the image, collect the references present, and remake the story in your head. This method of reading the symbolic references is generally used for baroque portraiture and allegorical art. It does make a comeback these days, because artists are much more involved in story telling then they were before.

Lawson explained the meaning of the image "A Lady and Two Gentlemen" (the second photograph in the gallery).
"This photograph alludes to Vermeer's painting "A Lady and Two Gentlemen" which shows a girl, who perhaps already drunk a little too much. She is being encouraged to drink even more by a man who is bending over her, while another man sits at a table in the corner. The window to the left is open, and its stained glass depicts the allegory of Temperance.

My photograph could represent the same scene, some hours later. The girl still holds the glass, but in her other hand is a mirror in which the face of her male companion is reflected. On the floor is a tarot card, representing Temperance, and a candlestick and pearls, which could betaken as metaphors for what has happened in the interval, just like the extreme décolleté of the nightdress does."