Since its founding, Heroes in Focus — the Rory Lewis Non Profit — has been devoted to a simple conviction: that those who serve in uniform deserve to be recorded with the gravity history reserves for statesmen and sovereigns. That conviction has carried my sitters into the Royal Collection, the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Army Museum. Until now, it has chiefly meant soldiers.

But service in uniform does not end at the armed forces. This month, in the city I now call home, we open a new chapter with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The Sitter

There is a particular stillness in people who have spent a career moving toward what everyone else is fleeing. Captain Glennon has it. A near twenty-year veteran of the department, captain and paramedic, he sat as soldiers sit: upright, unhurried, direct. No performance. The face does the work.

The Department

The Los Angeles Fire Department has stood watch over this city since 1886. Its firefighters and paramedics protect some four million Angelenos, in a city built against hills that burn. Most of the department's work is never seen — the medical calls, the collisions, the quiet emergencies of the small hours. And when the worst comes, it comes here on a scale few cities know. In January 2025, the world watched Los Angeles firefighters confront the most destructive fires in the city's history. Los Angeles knows what it owes them. These portraits are one small payment of that debt, made in the currency I know best.

The Portraits

We made three studies.

The first, in duty uniform, arms crossed, is set against a ground of burnished gold — a deliberate echo of the gilded panels of the early Renaissance, where a figure was placed on gold to lift him out of ordinary time.

Captain Glennon, Los Angeles Fire Department (Rory Lewis Photographer 2026)

The second, in formal dress uniform: the white-crowned cap, the badge, the bearing of civic tradition — an unbroken line reaching back to 1886.

The third, in full turnout gear: the captain's helmet, the breathing apparatus, a coat that carries the honest marks of the job. This is not costume; it is equipment.

Together they form a triptych — the officer, the tradition, and the work itself.

Not Only the Military — All Who Serve

Let me say it plainly: this nonprofit is not only about the military. It exists to honor all who serve in uniform — firefighters, paramedics, police officers, and members of the armed forces. Every portrait is made at no cost to the sitter or their institution, to full archival standard, and destined for permanent public collections. Making history one portrait at a time.

Nominate. Donate.

This work is funded entirely by donation, and every sitting is given freely.

If you know someone in uniform whose service deserves to be recorded — in Los Angeles or beyond — nominate them at rorylewis.studio/non-profit or write to rl@rorylewis.studio.

If you are able to help fund the next sitting, you may do so here: Donate via Zeffy. Donations are processed through Zeffy, so nothing is lost to platform fees.

And if neither is possible, sharing Captain Glennon's portrait costs nothing — and it honors him just the same.