Thursday to Sunday. 580 8th Avenue, twentieth floor. Studio-lit headshots for casting, agents and press.
I said September might be the last
In August I wrote that September could well be my last New York dates of the year. It wasn’t. Four more days have opened in early November, Thursday the 5th to Sunday the 8th, and I’m giving them to actors.
The timing is good. Images made now are proofed, retouched and on your profiles well before the new year, when casting picks up again and every office in the city wants to see something current. It is also the last clear window before the holidays take over the calendar.
Agreeable is not the same as castable
Most headshots in this city are lit to be agreeable. Bright, even, frontal: a face with nowhere to hide and nothing to hold on to. They identify you, and they stop there. A casting director working through a few hundred submissions before lunch doesn’t stop on agreeable. They stop on a face that seems to be in the middle of a thought.
Directional light gives you that. I work from the Old Masters (Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Van Dyck), and the principle hasn’t changed in four hundred years: one dominant source, placed with intent, and shadow allowed to do its share of the modelling. Adapted for a casting profile, it is still clean and still honest. It still looks like you on a good day. It simply has weight, and it looks cast rather than merely photographed.
Every sitting is studio-lit and directed throughout, so you’re never left wondering what to do with your hands.
Behind the camera
For twenty-three years I have photographed actors in London, Los Angeles and New York, among them Andy Serkis, Natalie Dormer, David Morrissey, Ben Miles and Clancy Brown. The same studio has seen five Prime Ministers, Field Marshals and members of the Royal Family. Seven of my portraits are in the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection, and sixteen are in the Royal Collection.
A working actor’s headshot gets the same light and the same attention as a State Portrait. There is no second tier. You can see recent work in the New York Actors Headshots Gallery.
The studio
580 8th Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Garment District, a short walk from Times Square, Bryant Park and the Theater District, which matters if you’re fitting a sitting between an audition and a half-hour call.
Questions actors ask
How much does a sitting cost?
Every sitting is quoted individually, depending on its length and how many retouched images you need. Write to me and I’ll send rates for these dates.
How long is a session?
45, 60, 90 or 120 minutes. If you need several looks, commercial and theatrical, say, the longer sessions give us room to do each one properly.
What should I wear?
Three or four tops in solid, muted colours: denim, a good knit, a plain shirt, a jacket. Nothing with logos or busy patterns. Bring them pressed and on hangers. There’s a short guide at rorylewis.studio/clothing.
Do you provide hair and make-up?
Come camera-ready, as you would for a self-tape. If you’d like a make-up artist on the day, mention it when you book and I’ll recommend someone.
What do I receive?
A curated proof gallery within a few days. You choose your frames, and I retouch with restraint: blemishes and stray hairs go, character stays. Finished files are high-resolution and suitable for Actors Access, Casting Networks, Backstage, your agent and press. Master retouching is available for greater depth and separation from the background. Unretouched files are not released.
I can’t make November. Can I sit elsewhere?
Yes. I keep studios in Downtown Los Angeles and Farringdon, London, and I’m in London from 16 November. Tell me where you are and I’ll find you a date.
Booking
Email RL@RORYLEWIS.STUDIO with your name, your agent or manager if you’re represented, your preferred day and session length. Four days is not many, and places are confirmed in the order they arrive. If you’re not an actor but would like a sitting while I’m in the city, write anyway.