For senior leaders and public-facing executives, the photograph often arrives first - in a press release, annual report, board pack or conference programme.
Presence over a performance of authority.
Generic executive portraits make people look interchangeable: the same posture, the same expression, the same borrowed idea of confidence.
I pay attention to how authority actually sits in a person - how they speak, listen and hold themselves when they are engaged rather than performing for the lens. The aim is a portrait with weight that still feels specific to the person in it.
The session begins with where the photographs need to go.
A portrait for a financial title and one for a technology conference programme are not necessarily the same photograph. Before the session, I establish the intended uses and make decisions around setting, light, range and format accordingly.
Alongside formal headshots, a commission can include relaxed portraits, environmental images and candid moments - a versatile body of work ready for the requests that tend to arrive at short notice.