I’ll be back at the Farringdon studio from Monday 16 to Thursday 26 November 2026, with a limited number of sittings available for corporate headshots and executive portraits.
Returning to London: Corporate and Executive Portraits, 16–26 November (Rory Lewis Photographer)
London is where much of my practice took shape. Over the past twenty-three years I’ve photographed five Prime Ministers, members of the Royal Family, senior military figures and the leaders of some of Britain’s most respected institutions. Seven of those portraits now sit in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, and sixteen in the Royal Collection. That work carries a particular responsibility: a portrait made for a boardroom, an annual report or a state occasion has to hold its authority for years, not just for the next press cycle.
A different kind of executive portrait
Most corporate photography aims to be inoffensive. Even lighting, a neutral backdrop and a pleasant expression produce something serviceable and immediately forgettable.
My approach comes from somewhere older. The great portraitists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Holbein at the Tudor court, Van Dyck painting Charles I, Rembrandt with the Amsterdam merchant guilds, were in effect the corporate photographers of their day. Their sitters were statesmen, financiers and men and women of consequence, and their task was to convey presence, judgement and character in a single, considered image. They did it with directional light, deep shadow and a careful reading of the person in front of them.
That tradition informs every executive sitting I take. Controlled chiaroscuro lighting gives the face shape and weight, and an unhurried session allows the sitter to settle into themselves rather than performing for the lens. The result is a portrait that looks like the person at their most composed and capable, and one that sits naturally beside the oil paintings in a company’s own history.
What’s available
Executive portraits: for chairs, CEOs, partners and board members, suitable for annual reports, official biographies, press and boardroom display.
Corporate headshots: consistent, high-quality headshots for leadership teams and staff, with the same attention to lighting and character applied to every individual.
Formal and commissioned portraits: for institutions, livery companies, regiments and organisations that want a portrait for posterity, including large-format fine art prints.
I’ll be back at the Farringdon studio from Monday 16 to Thursday 26 November 2026, with a limited number of sittings available for corporate headshots and executive portraits.
London is where much of my practice took shape. Over the past twenty-three years I’ve photographed five Prime Ministers, members of the Royal Family, senior military figures and the leaders of some of Britain’s most respected institutions. Seven of those portraits now sit in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, and sixteen in the Royal Collection. That work carries a particular responsibility: a portrait made for a boardroom, an annual report or a state occasion has to hold its authority for years, not just for the next press cycle.