Rory Lewis Photographer

Jacobo Fe Gismera at the Downtown Studio

Jacobo Fe Gismera at the Downtown Studio

Some sitters arrive at the studio with a CV; Jacobo Fe Gismera arrived with a biography that reads like one of his own screenplays. A Spaniard in Los Angeles by way of UCLA, he was the youngest novelist in Spain to publish in the historical genre, putting out his peplum novel Perfectus Imperator at nineteen, the same age he began a modelling career that has since run to hundreds of publications across a dozen or more countries.

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The Los Angeles Experience — New Headshots for Sasha

The Los Angeles Experience — New Headshots for Sasha

There's a particular kind of luck in photographing someone you know completely. With Sasha I've now made more portraits than of any other subject I've ever worked with, and these latest frames from the LA studio are some of the ones I keep returning to. The cropped platinum hair, the stacked silver ear pieces, the Adidas track top with its three stripes — there's an austere, almost sculptural confidence to her here that the lighting was built to serve rather than soften.

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London Sittings 22nd - 25th June 2026

London Sittings 22nd - 25th June 2026

A brief return to Londonr a small number of private sittings — actor headshots, executive portraiture, and editorial commissions — held at the Farringdon studio. Four days only.

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Andy Burnham — A Portrait of Determination, and the Case for the Archive

Andy Burnham — A Portrait of Determination, and the Case for the Archive

The news from Westminster this week confirms what many in the Labour movement have suspected for some time. Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, has been cleared by Labour's National Executive Committee to contest the Makerfield by-election — the seat vacated by Josh Simons — with a view to challenging Sir Keir Starmer for the leadership of the Labour Party.

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Back in New York: 25–31 May

Back in New York: 25–31 May

I'll be back at the Midtown Manhattan studio from Monday 25th to Sunday 31st May 2026 — seven days, one room, a short list of sittings, and what I suspect will be a faintly absurd amount of coffee. If you've been meaning to book a portrait, refresh a headshot, or sit down for a one-to-one workshop, this is the window.

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Recreating Caravaggio: Photography Workshop Saturday 23rd May 2026 Los Angeles

Recreating Caravaggio: Photography Workshop Saturday 23rd May 2026 Los Angeles

On Saturday 23rd May 2026, from 10am to 3pm, I'll be running a one-day portrait workshop at the Downtown LA studio on Recreating Caravaggio. Five hours, two lights, professional models, and a small enough room that nobody can hide at the back. Tickets are $450, places are limited, and the date is closer than the calendar makes it look.

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The Returning Sitter: Alex Blake

The Returning Sitter: Alex Blake

Alex Blake came back to the studio recently for an update to his headshots — the kind of return visit that punctuates most working actors' careers every two or three years, when the credits have grown, the face has settled into something a little more itself, and the agent has started asking gently whether the current image is still doing the work it ought to. Alex's was, mostly. But "mostly" is the word that brings actors back.

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Five Years Late: Portraits of Babs Olusanmokun

Five Years Late: Portraits of Babs Olusanmokun

Portraits of Babs Olusanmokun, London | Rory Lewis

Portrait photographer Rory Lewis on capturing actor Babs Olusanmokun (Dune, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) at his London studio — five years in the making.

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