Rory Lewis

05/24/2026

Ben Palacios Actors Headshots at the Downtown Los Angeles Studio.

Ben Palacios came through the Downtown Los Angeles studio last week, as part of an ongoing refresh of the actor look book — a deliberate evolution of lighting, styling and approach intended to give clients the distinction casting directors are now demanding.

Los Angeles is unforgiving terrain at present. The competition for representation, for callbacks, for the first read, has never been sharper, and a headshot that merely flatters no longer earns the second look. The frame has to argue for the actor — has to suggest a range, an interior life, a specificity of casting — before a word is spoken.

That has been the brief running through these recent sittings: to test new lighting cues, classical in temperament but contemporary in finish, and to find the register that lets each actor stand alone on a casting director's monitor. Ben was a pleasure to work with — generous on camera, considered between frames, and a natural collaborator on the small adjustments that decide whether a portrait holds or merely passes.

It was a pleasure also to have Ben's mother in the studio offering quiet support — one of the small graces that always lifts a sitting. Hair was in the hands of Andrei and makeup with Nina, both of whom brought their usual precision to the chair; the discipline they apply before the first frame is visible in every plate that follows. My wife and producer Sasha kept the day moving with characteristic ease, and the session was, by every measure, a thoroughly enjoyable one.

https://www.rorylewis.studio/rorys-jottings/ben-palacios

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Ben Palacios came through the Downtown Los Angeles studio last week, as part of an ongoing refresh of the actor look book — a deliberate evolution of lighting, styling and approach intended to give clients the distinction casting directors are now demanding.

05/07/2026

Cinematic Headshots for Actors, CEOs, Executives & Corporate Professionals in New York.

Award-winning British photographer Rory Lewis offers cinematic New York headshots for actors, models, and professionals. Based in Midtown Manhattan, Rory creates expressive portraits that open doors in film, television, and business. Book your NYC headshot session today.

05/07/2026

Why "Pretty" Headshots Are Failing LA Actors in 2026.

If you’re submitting to breakdowns in Los Angeles right now, you already know the competition is fierce. But here is the hard truth: Casting Directors are spending an average of 1.5 seconds looking at your thumbnail before making a decision.

If your headshot just looks "nice," they are scrolling past.

For years, the LA standard was the generic, bright-and-airy "pretty" photo. It showed what you looked like on a good day, but it didn't tell a story. In 2026, the casting landscape has shifted dramatically. Networks like HBO, Apple TV+, and Netflix aren't looking for blank canvases; they are casting highly specific, grounded, and intensely authentic archetypes.

If you’re submitting to breakdowns in Los Angeles right now, you already know the competition is fierce. But here is the hard truth: Casting Directors are spending an average of 1.5 seconds looking at your thumbnail before making a decision.

05/04/2026

Five Years Late: Portraits of Babs Olusanmokun.

The Jotting

It started, as these things sometimes do, in a cinema in Liverpool.

October 25th, 2021. The Everyman. Sasha and I had gone to see Dune — Villeneuve's, the first one — and somewhere between Paul Atreides arriving on Arrakis and the inevitable sandworm, a face appeared on screen that made me lose the plot entirely. Babs Olusanmokun, playing Jamis. He's only there for a few minutes — long enough to fight, lose, and become a memory the rest of the film quietly carries forward — but I sat in the dark cataloguing him instead of following the story. The angle of the cheekbone. The line of the jaw in profile. The stillness of him. There's a particular kind of face the European portrait tradition keeps reaching for: structurally certain, quiet, the sort of face that holds a frame without working at it. Babs has one of those faces.

I left the cinema with a half-formed intention to photograph him and, like most half-formed intentions, it got buried under a working diary and three time zones.

Then in 2022 he turned up again, this time as Dr. Joseph M'Benga in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and the face hadn't moved. Same architecture, same gravity. Photographers tend to keep mental files of people they'd like to sit, and Babs's file had been sitting near the top of the cabinet for a year, gathering dust and patience in equal measure. By the time Dune: Part Two came round and Guy Ritchie cast him in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, the file was practically waving at me.

So this April, on a working trip back to London, I wrote to his agent.

He was in town. He was free. We met at the Farringdon studio on the 24th — five years almost to the week since that first evening at the Everyman.

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.

04/28/2026

The Digital Handshake: Introducing Jake Read’s New 2026 Headshots.

In the high-stakes world of Los Angeles pilot season, your headshot isn’t just a photo—it’s your digital handshake. It’s the first thing a casting director sees before they even hear your name. This week, we’re thrilled to showcase a fresh face making waves: Jake Read.

Captured by the renowned British portraitist Rory Lewis at his Downtown LA studio, these shots are a masterclass in cinematic branding. Moving away from the "over-retouched" look of years past, these images focus on what really matters in 2026: authenticity and range.

https://www.rorylewis.studio/headshots-blog/the-digital-handshake-introducing-jake-reads-new-2026-headshots

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04/24/2026

DTLA: April & May 2026 Sessions.

While my work is held in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London, my home and craft are firmly planted in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. This April and May, I am opening my DTLA studio for a select number of portrait commissions and professional workshops.

In a city defined by the temporary, we are focused on the permanent. Whether you are a leader defining an industry or an actor defining a character, your image should be a museum-grade legacy, not a fleeting trend.

While my work is held in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London , my home and craft are firmly planted in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles . This April and May, I am opening my DTLA studio for a select number of portrait commissions and professional workshops. In

04/24/2026

The Gold Standard: 10 Things to Expect from Your Beverly Hills Headshot Session.

In the competitive corridors of Beverly Hills and Century City, your image is more than just a photograph—it is your digital handshake and your first negotiation. Whether you are a tech founder, a trial attorney, or an award-winning actor, a headshot by Rory Lewis is designed to do more than document your appearance; it is crafted to project authority, character, and legacy.

In the competitive corridors of Beverly Hills and Century City , your image is more than just a photograph—it is your digital handshake and your first negotiation. Whether you are a tech founder, a trial attorney, or an award-winning actor, a headshot by Rory Lewis is designed to do more than d

04/22/2026

Elite Executive Portraits & Royal Portraiture: The Luxury Beverly Hills Experience with Rory Lewis.

In the high-stakes corridors of Beverly Hills and Century City, your image is more than just a photograph—it is your first negotiation. It is the visual shorthand for your authority, your legacy, and your professional brand. When it comes to capturing the essence of leadership, few photographers command the lens with the same historical weight and artistic precision as Rory Lewis.

As a renowned British photographer whose work is held in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London, Rory Lewis brings a "Royal" pedigree to Southern California. Having captured defining images of world leaders like Sir Tony Blair and David Cameron, as well as Hollywood icons like Sir Patrick Stewart and William Shatner, Rory has now established a dedicated presence for elite headshots in Los Angeles.

The Cinematic Edge: Beyond the Standard Headshot

While the "LA Headshot" is often associated with flat, bright lighting, Rory Lewis specializes in depth, shadow, and intention. Drawing inspiration from the masters of the Italian Renaissance—specifically the Chiaroscuro and Tenebrismtechniques of Caravaggio—his portraits are described as "visual architecture."

In the high-stakes corridors of Beverly Hills and Century City , your image is more than just a photograph—it is your first negotiation. It is the visual shorthand for your authority, your legacy, and your professional brand. When it comes to capturing the essence of leadership, few photograp

04/13/2026

A New Collaboration: Kateryna Kramer at the London Studio.

There is a specific kind of magic that happens when an actor steps into the light of a master portraitist. Recently, I had the pleasure of welcoming actress Kateryna Kramer to my London studio. These sessions are about more than just a headshot; they are about capturing the range and nuance that an actor brings to the screen.

Working with Kateryna was an exercise in versatility. Known for her expressive depth, we aimed to create a portfolio that reflects both her commanding presence and her quiet, introspective moments.

For this session, we played with a mix of soft-box lighting to maintain natural skin textures and hard-rim lighting to add that necessary edge for theatrical casting. Kateryna is a natural collaborator, moving seamlessly between different "lives" in front of the lens.

"A great headshot isn't just a photo; it’s a performance caught in a single frame."

It was a fantastic day of creativity in London. Keep an eye out for Kateryna’s upcoming projects—she is undoubtedly a talent to watch.

https://www.rorylewis.studio/headshots-blog/kateryna-kramer

04/10/2026

Natalie Amey — Actress Headshots, Los Angeles.

Some actors arrive carrying real depth. Natalie Amey is one of them. Before acting, she worked as a therapist, ICU nurse, and transplant nurse — experiences that live in her eyes, her stillness, her presence.

In my Downtown LA studio, the goal was clear: translate that into headshots casting can feel instantly — range, authority, truth.

Natalie’s background in care gives her rare emotional intelligence. Now a professional actor, wife, and mother, she brings genuine strength and warmth to roles — especially maternal, grounded characters. She isn’t performing it. She has it.

We focused on two key registers: quiet authority and natural warmth. Both real. Both essential.

This is why headshots matter — revealing the life behind the actor and opening the door.

If you’re a Los Angeles-based actor looking for cinematic, casting-ready headshots, I accept a limited number of sessions per cycle.

https://www.rorylewis.studio/headshots-blog/natalieamey

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