A Portrait is a Design Problem

Who is this, who's on the other side of the image, and what should they understand before a word is spoken? Answer that and the light, the room, and the styling all follow. Skip it and you get a face in front of a backdrop.

So I don't start with a camera. I start with a brief, how you want to be read, who you're reaching, and what you're dreading about this. I read it properly, then write back a direction: the room, the tonal register, the styling logic, the whole thinking. You see it before you ever stand in front of a lens.

The four sessions below differs in one way only; how far the design goes.

The Study. The Brief. The Editorial. The Scene

The Study

A single idea, made properly. In art, a study is a focused work, one idea, executed well. One look, one intention, one clear read on you. If the image you’re using is five years old, or borrowed, or quietly making you wince every time you see it, this is the fix.

  • a profile that’s long overdue

  • a speaker bio, a panel, a program

  • a team page you’re joining

What you leave with

  • a portrait that holds and avatar size and at full width

  • sized and finished for LinkedIn, your site, and press requests.

$450

The Brief

Your portrait, designed around you. This one begins with a conversation. Before anything is photographed, you’ll complete the Portrait Brief, which is a short honest exchange about how you want to be read, who’s on the other side of the image, and what you’re dreading.

  • founders and creators who need images that sound like them

  • a rebrand, launch, a new chapter

  • Anyone tired of the gray backdrop

What you leave with

  • A written direction, yours to keep, before we shoot

  • a range that carries you for the year, profile, about page, press, stage, and social

$1,200

We hold our work to high standards. We focus on sustainable results built on smart strategy and real insight.

The Editorial

The whole visual language, not just the face. A full story production. The portrait is one part of it; the rest is everything around the portrait. Environment, hands, objects, motion, the details and the spaces that explain what you actually do and how you do it.

  • a launch, a funding announcement, a company with a story to tell

  • Brands that need a visual system, not a single asset

  • teams and founders who publish constantly and keep running dry

What you leave with

  • A body of work your team can pull from for a year

  • Portrait, environment, detail, and motion as one coherent language

  • a written direction built to your rollout

Beginning at $2,500

The Scene

A world, designed around you. Some portraits need more than a room and good light. They need a world. The scene is a designed portrait. The concept is built from the ground up around the people in it. Period, palette, material, wardrobe, light, and character. It begins with an idea you’ve been carrying. Not a theme picked off a list but a story that belongs to you.

  • a milestone that deserves more than a dinner. think a birthday, a graduation, a reunion, an ending

  • two people whose relationship deserves a portrait rather than a photo

  • anyone who has never seen themselves photographed as the person they are in their own head

What you leave with

  • a concept, written and designed before anything is built

  • a finished piece, printed at scale and placed.

  • a portrait that will still be on the wall in twenty years

Quoted by concept. Beginning at $3,500

Every scene is different, so every scene is quoted. The concept determines the production.

  • "Their attention to detail and commitment to quality truly stood out. We’ve already recommended them to others."

    TJ Bryant

  • "A professional team that delivers on their promises."

    E.M,

  • "Communication was top-notch and the final outcome was even better than we imagined. A great experience all around."

    Former Customer

Let’s Work Together

If you're interested in working with us, complete the form with a few details about your project. We'll review your message and get back to you within 48 hours.