A lecture and open Q&A with British portrait photographer Rory Lewis. Based in Los Angeles with studios in New York and London, Lewis has spent two decades building one of the most distinctive bodies of portrait work in contemporary photography - cinematic, Caravaggio-inspired, and rooted as much in his early training as a medieval historian at King's College London as in the camera itself. His sitters have ranged from Sir Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, David Warner and Rufus Sewell to former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Theresa May, HRH The Duke of Kent, and successive Chiefs of the General Staff of the British Army. Portraits by Lewis are held in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London and in the Royal Collection, and through his Heroes in Focus non-profit he has photographed the living Field Marshals, VC & GC recipients, and hundreds of British soldiers for the Soldiery archive.

B&H New York Inside the Portrait: A 4-Hour Lighting & Direction Masterclass

In this session he opens two decades of work: the sittings that shaped his career, the frames he'd defend and the ones he learned from, and the painters - Holbein, Caravaggio, Titian, Rembrandt, Lawrence - whose light still runs beneath every portrait he makes. Expect stories from rooms with five-minute clocks, honest breakdowns of how the most-recognised images were built, and the working philosophy of a photographer who treats the studio as a direct descendant of the easel.

The final portion of the afternoon is given over entirely to your questions. Bring a notebook.

Rory Lewis is a British portrait photographer based in Los Angeles, with studios in New York and London. He is known for his compelling fine-art approach to contemporary portraiture. Shaped by the chiaroscuro traditions of Caravaggio and the Old Masters, his work brings a rare painterly intensity to every sitting.

Over 23 years he has photographed royalty, Oscar and BAFTA winners, Emmy-decorated actors, prime ministers, heads of state, and the most distinguished military figures of our time - among them Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart, Stephen Graham, and Brian Cox.

His portraits do not simply document a subject; they reveal one. His work is held in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery, London and The Royal Collection in Windsor, his works is syndicated through Contour by Getty Images, and exhibited internationally across the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States.

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