Brown Eyed Handsome Man

Although I’m stylistically known for posing people in awkward body positions I’ve increasingly become interested in focusing on the face. A turning point came when I was making the selections for my portrait retrospective Uneasy.

As I dug into my archive I found great tight shots that I’d previously ignored. A huge percentage of my sittings included at least some headshots, as clients requested them, and frankly, they’re just a smart bit of coverage as a professional shooter. They certainly didn’t dominate the final book, but added the visual variety needed for a large monograph (included were Frederick Wiseman, George W. Bush, and Missy Elliott, amongst others).

Going tight for this session with Siddhartha Mukherjee was a no-brainer. He is a handsome man, with great style and awesome hair - plus, he’s a doctor (looking to cure cancer!) and a bestselling author. Are we looking for a badass smoldering warrior portrait of this guy? Why is the question even being asked?

I looked up some previous shoots with him, and watched some video interviews, and saw that his swagger wasn’t always captured well, now I could see my goal clearly.

We had three hours of time with Siddhartha (a blessing), which gave us the time to lay a foundation of connection, so that when I got up tight on his face in that last 20 minutes he didn’t flinch, and stayed fully present for my camera.

Image: Siddhartha Mukherjee.

Bottom Image: Left: BTS of photographer by Jordan Szostak; Right: Siddhartha Mukherjee (in a classic Buck body pose).