As 2025 draws to a close, this year stands as one of the most significant in the life of the Rory Lewis Non-Profit. It has been a year defined by responsibility, remembrance, and the continued belief that portraiture can serve history — not as decoration, but as record.
Through independent, unfunded work, the non-profit has continued its mission: to document senior military leadership, frontline service, and acts of extraordinary courage, while ensuring these portraits find permanent homes in museums, regimental collections, and public institutions.
Featured
Recording Leadership at the Highest Level
In October 2025, I photographed General Sir Roly Walker, professional head of the British Army. Commissioned into the Irish Guards in 1993, General Walker’s career spans Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the strategic command of global operations. His portrait forms part of a growing independent archive recording Britain’s senior military leadership at moments of historic consequence.
This year also marked a rare and important chapter in British military history: the appointment of new Field Marshals.
I was honoured to welcome Field Marshal The Lord Houghton of Richmond back to my London studio in October 2025, completing a photographic relationship that began in 2014 when he served as Chief of the Defence Staff. His promotion to Field Marshal, alongside his predecessor Field Marshal Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, represents the revival of one of the most symbolic ranks in the British Army — a sovereign honour bestowed sparingly and with deep historical resonance.
Both portraits were created in chiaroscuro, emphasizing restraint, depth, and reflection — images concerned not with spectacle, but with legacy.
Command, Ceremony, and Continuity
In October, I also photographed Major General James Bowder, Major-General Commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District. This portrait continues an evolving visual record of those entrusted with the ceremonial and operational heart of the British Army, following earlier sittings with Major Generals Bathurst and Ghika.
Together, these portraits reflect continuity — leadership passed from one generation to the next, entrusted with both tradition and change.
Bearing Witness Beyond Borders
The non-profit’s mission extends beyond Britain.
In August 2025 captured Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Stauffer The sitting opened with a series of formal portraits set against the American flag. Precision in dress, the quiet authority of posture, and the earned weight of medals and ribbons together convey years of discipline and service. Each insignia carries meaning—markers of responsibility accepted, challenges faced, and standards upheld.
In September 2025, I captured Marcus Lewis, Gunnery Sergeant, United States Marine Corps. As Commander of the Marine Security Guard Detachment at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem during the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, his portrait preserves not only likeness, but lived experience — the weight of responsibility borne in moments of global crisis.
Through portraiture, this work seeks to bridge military and civilian worlds, allowing future generations to encounter service through the human face.
Museum Acquisitions & Public Legacy
Thanks entirely to donor support, 2025 saw a remarkable number of portraits enter permanent public collections:
York Army Museum acquired the portrait of Field Marshal Lord Houghton of Richmond
The Royal Artillery Museum (Larkhill) acquired the portrait of Field Marshal Lord Richards of Herstmonceux
The Green Howards Museum acquired the portrait of Field Marshal Lord Houghton
The Rifles Berkshire & Wiltshire Museum received the donated portrait of Captain Massey, 1st Battalion The Rifles
Each acquisition ensures that these works live beyond the studio — accessible to scholars, serving personnel, families, and the public.
In addition, the non-profit made its first historical acquisition: a 1928 presentation portrait of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, marking the beginning of a permanent reference archive linking past and present leadership.
Remembering Those We Lost in 2025
This year also carried loss.
We remembered Field Marshal Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank (1928–2025), whose portrait remains one of the defining works of this archive — a sitting that captured both authority and humanity at the highest level of command.
We honoured Mike Pratt, GC (1948–2025), whose extraordinary courage as a Victoria Police officer stands among the finest examples of selfless service.
These remembrance posts are not retrospectives alone — they are acts of preservation, ensuring that courage is not reduced to footnotes.
How Donations Were Used in 2025
Every contribution to the Rory Lewis Non-Profit directly supported:
Travel and logistics for unfunded portrait sittings
Museum-grade printing, framing, and archival materials
Donations of portraits to museums and regimental institutions
Conservation-safe storage for the growing historical archive
Educational outreach through exhibitions, talks, and publications
This portrait, created as part of the ongoing work of the Rory Lewis Non-Profit, documents General Sir Roly Walker, the professional head of the British Army.
Commissioned into the Irish Guards in 1993, General Walker has commanded at company, battle group, brigade, and strategic levels, with operational service in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He commanded the Grenadier Guards in 2009 and later served across brigade, divisional, army, and strategic headquarters.