I’m going to make the case that there’s no such thing as corporate photography.
Think about it. There’s fashion photography, beauty photography, product photography, architectural photography, landscape photography, wedding photography, baby photography. There’s still-life photography. There’s passport photography. And of course, there’s portraiture.
What’s corporate photography?
Corporate photography is not a modality.
A photographer shooting for a corporate client may be asked to photograph buildings, office environments, production facilities and activities, but for websites, annual reports and other corporate communications, inevitably the emphasis is on people. This is portraiture, which is a modality.
Some samples of my portraits of prominent people, photographed, left to right, for Life Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, Fortune and Time…
Corporate Photography
“Corporate photography” – again, it’s not a thing. In my view, the term signifies only that the photographer’s client is a corporation. Portraiture is a form of photography.
Advice to prospective clients
If you work in public or investor relations for a sizable organization, your job is to have your company shown to maximum advantage. If your executives and other personnel need to appear in their best light (literally and figuratively) is critically important (and of course, it is), your mandate is to hire the best photographer available. If you’ve already chosen an established, top-flight graphic design firm to create whatever instrument you have in mind, likely that firm will recommend a dependable, experienced photographer as a prospective hire – or make the hire for you. If no design firm is involved, you’ll want to find the photographer yourself.
“Corporate Headshot Photography”
I’ve searched on the internet for “corporate headshot photography” – and have found more than a few photographers who offer services to the corporate marketplace.
Here’s some advice they offer on their websites to prospective clients…
- “At the beginning of your session, warm up with simple and straightforward poses. Simply stand there
and smile.”
“Try to get some sleep, exercise and sunshine in the weeks before your session.”
“Take a look at some prior photos of yourself … show those photos to your photographer…that will help us
find an angle that you find flattering.”
Read here: Commercial photographer Los Angeles
This may be the worst guidance ever offered to a prospective client – all but guaranteed to induce anxiety. ANY AND ALL RESPONSIBILITIES RELATIVE TO THE SESSION LIE WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHER. The subject should not have to prepare anything. The subject’s only job is to show up.
And — in my experience — headshots aren’t what’s needed. I suggest portraits – images that capture a subject’s essence.
Related article:
Executive portraits don’t need to be ordinary!
Three words of advice: hire an expert. Three more: …with long experience.
Does experience matter?
Always.
My history
My editorial clients have included Bon Appetit, California Magazine, Emmy, Entertainment Weekly,
Esquire, Forbes, Fortune, Geo, Home, Inc., Interview, Life, the London Sunday Times, Longevity, Los Angeles Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Money, National Geographic World, Newsweek, New West, Omni, Outside, Panorama Magazine, Parade, People, Psychology Today, Rolling Stone, Shape, Time, Town & Country, Travel & Leisure, Smithsonian, Us Weekly, Vanity Fair, and the Washington Post.
I’ve shot assignments for Columbia Pictures, Disney, Fox, Paramount, Universal, Warner Brothers, ABC, CBS, NBC, Paramount, Universal, Warner Brothers, ABC, CBS, NBC, Capitol Records, and CBS Records/Sony Music.
And for design firms. And ad agencies.
I’ve photographed just about every kind of subject: people, places, things. For over 40 years.
More details
My studio is in downtown L.A., but I do location shoots as well, throughout Southern California and elsewhere. Headshots, group photos, team photos, interiors, exteriors — whatever’s needed. My crew has long experience as well. Our specialty – technical expertise aside – is putting subjects at ease, bringing forward the best of what’s in them. It’s the only path to great results.
