Rory Lewis (born 5 October 1982 in
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
, England) is a British photographer known for his celebrity portrait photography.
Lewis's inspirations include the works of the artists
Hans Holbein the younger
Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; ; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He ...
,
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...
,
Titian
Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno.
Ti ...
and
Thomas Lawrence
Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English people, English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was a ...
and the
German Expressionist movement of the 1920s.
Education
Lewis originally studied Medieval History at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
.
Works
In 2012, Lewis held his first exhibition, Keeping Abreast, at the
Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool. Held in aid of
Macmillan Cancer Support, the collection featured unseen portraits.
In 2013, his portrait of actor David Warner was acquired by the
National Portrait Gallery, London. The portrait was Warner's first sitting since Cecil Beaton photographed him in the mid-1960s.
In 2014, Lewis photographed and held his first major portrait photography exhibition. Entitled 'Northerners', the project was an entirely new collection of portraits from a cross section of northern English actors, celebrities, sports personalities, and politicians. Held in aid of
UNICEF
UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
, the exhibition featured portraits of
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...
,
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...
,
Ian McShane
Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor. His television performances include the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006) and its 2019 film continuation, and M ...
,
Emma Rigby,
Beth Tweddle
Elizabeth Kimberly Tweddle (born 1 April 1985) is a retired English Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. Renowned for her uneven bar and floor routines, she was the first female gymnast from Great Britain to win a medal at the Rhythmic Gymnas ...
,
Craig Charles, General Sir
Nick Houghton
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal John Nicholas Reynolds Houghton, Baron Houghton of Richmond, ( ; born 18 October 1954) is a retired senior British Army officer and former Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom), Chief of the D ...
and Mayor of Liverpool
Joe Anderson.
In May 2014, Lewis photographed Uruguayan footballer
Luis Suarez
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
in a campaign for Pepsi.
In 2016 Lewis photographed all the remaining
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
&
George Cross
The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...
recipients for a new portrait project.
In 2017 Lewis photographed actor
Rufus Sewell
Rufus Frederik Sewell (; born 29 October 1967) is a British actor. In film, he has appeared in ''Carrington (film), Carrington'' (1995), ''Hamlet (1996 film), Hamlet'' (1996), ''Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), ''Dark City (1998 film), Dark City'' (1 ...
in Los Angeles. The portrait was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery.
Throughout 2016–17, Lewis embarked on a portrait project entitled Soldiery
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
Portraits. Photographing over 278 British soldiers, and publishing a book of the collection. The collection was exhibited at Armed Forces Day Liverpool 24 June and then moved to
The National Army Museum in London from 31 January – 12 February 2018.
As part of the Soldiery project, Lewis held portrait sitting with WO2 Deborah Penny, Britain's first transgender soldier to serve in the front line.
In 2018 Lewis embarked on a new project entitled Portraitist, including portraits of former prime minister
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
. The portrait sitting was featured by the Guardian Newspaper.
References
External links
Rory Lewis Photographer WebsiteRory Lewis 2012 Photography Exhibition VideoBBC News Rory Lewis Exhibition NorthernersRory Lewis Exhibition Portraitist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Rory
1982 births
Living people
Alumni of King's College London
British portrait photographers
Photographers from Cheshire
People from Chester