Claire

I've been photographing people for over thirty years

I moved to the East coast of the United States after university and freelance assisted for seven years. I worked alongside all sorts of photographers: product, editorial, architectural and many others and in those years I gained a thorough grounding in the craft and business of photography.

But crucially, I also came to realise that the jobs that always excited me the most involved portraiture.

I went on to become an editorial photographer shooting for publications like Time Magazine. I loved the challenge of having often only a matter of minutes to make a compelling image of a Washington DC politician, or a chef, or a sports fan or a businessman or a LGBTQ+ icon.

But in 1999 I happened to have lots of friends who were actors and one of them asked me to do a headshot for her. It was so rewarding to have a prolonged period of time in the studio to really craft the look we were aiming for. Before long it had become my main focus.

The more I did, the more I became aware how many of these actors who could deliver arresting performances on stage and film & TV were making do with headshots that communicated absolutely nothing.

What I came to realise was that whatever it’s application, a headshot needs be a great portrait - it’s a simple as that. A portrait that jumps off the page and actively communicates something to the viewer. It should be a collaboration between the sitter and the photographer that allows the personality of the actor to shine.

Nowadays with everyone carrying a camera in their pocket, we are more used to being photographed than ever before But often the image that people want captured of themselves is a very specific, very limited image that reflects the way they feel about themselves. So people tend to show only what they want to be seen. One of the huge challenges for a portrait photographer is to work beyond those limitations and strip away the superficiality of a self-conscious sitter's response to the camera in order to find some degree of truth.

And boiled down to its essence, that’s my job. Whether you’re an actor, or a business person who wants dynamic images that let you connect with your client base, I provide you with an environment where you can relax, have fun and trust me enough to find the magic that makes you who you are so we can capture that on camera.

That first headshot seems like yesterday to me, but twenty-five years, two countries, three cities and more than six thousand clients later, I still love the challenge of working with each unique individual who walks into the studio.

And when not photographing people I am also an artist whose work can be seen at Turner Barnes Gallery, The Last Supper Gallery in London and I’m represented by Artemizia Gallery in the US.