Business portrait doesn’t have to be boring!
can a business portrait be like a work of art?
My answer is of course!
Look at the portrait of Martin below - he is speeding down the slide.
This young boy has already learned Japanese and… much more!
This post is written by Martin (model) - photographed by Bartek Wyrobek in the south of Poland in the Stalmach Glass Zone.
Buisness portrait doesn’t have to be boring!
In the times of general quarantine and work from home, one can find some extraordinary ideas and fantasies running through the head. In my case, most possibly because I could only see my colleagues from work in the form of thumbnails on our company communicator, the idea of a business portrait session has popped.
And just when such ideas were shyly growing in my head, we were finishing some formalities about our wedding, on which it’s Bartek who’s gonna be our photographer. I asked, by the way, if he’s even doing such things; I was still convinced that my idea is rather irrational, that first I’d need to get a proper haircut… Bartek, however, just like him, has reacted with tremendous enthusiasm which has quickly become my own.
Before the session, I’ve explored some business photos – on Linkedin, Instagram, those suggested by Google and those from Kraków companies’ portfolios. All of them had a few things in common: they were correct, professional, representative and… boring.
The vast majority of the photos I’ve seen were portraits of people doing a serious face on a plain background, with arms crossed. And that’s OK, but on the other hand – especially nowadays – these photos seemed to lack some sort of character, to lack the spark which could, for instance, attract the interest of a headhunter. The spark which would set such a photo on fire.
Bartek got the idea in a blink of an eye.
I expected nothing less from him anyway, after all he’s the guy who shot newlyweds sitting merrily in a hot spring (picture below), with their wedding outfits thrown carelessly on the rocks.
Despite my rather high expectations, he’s managed to surprise me. Cause totally out of blue, he’s found a perfect place for such a session: Glass Zone Stalmach, where the architecture and interior designs were simply breathtaking and what is more – people working there have welcomed us warmly and enjoyed the image of me sliding down (trust me) exceptionally steep slide. It was extremely helpful because I’ve never been professionally shot and I’m also not a master of public speaking and such.
I do, of course, try to fight it, but there are some things beyond my control, whatever I do – blushing, the leg which plays the inaudible, dynamic rhythm of the stress, stooped posture; I was a bit afraid of it all, but I was also doing everything I could to reach the place excited and positive. It wasn’t easy, after all most us tend to think “Darn, I am not photogenic at all.”, “My nose is too big.”, “I don't know what came over me!”, “I’m gonna die of embarrassment!”.
The moment we saw each other, I knew it’ll be a cheerful forenoon. Really. I don’t really know how he did it, but in front of his lens I felt (and maybe even looked!) better than in front of a mirror. At the end of the session my face has hurt because of the smile which has constantly been on it and it was by no means a fake one. To be honest, Bartek might have overdone it a bit – he made me feel so comfortable that my talkativeness has revealed itself. He was very resistant to it though and he’s even borne digressions about grammatical specifics of the concept of time in Asian languages, whilst taking incredible shots. One after another.
Together with my fiancée we’ve chosen Bartek for our wedding because we were amazed by his portfolio. But not only that, after our first conversation we knew that he’s also a great man with passion and surprising enthusiasm for his job. Just a few hours after the session, I got a link to a gallery full of photos which not only did meet my expectations, but also went beyond them – both in the terms of quantity and quality. On top of that (it is a bit embarrassing) after the session and then seeing its outcome, I just felt good about myself.
There’s one more thing I’ve noticed during our meeting. He took me a lot of great photos super fast, he’s found a perfect place, but that’s nothing. Somehow he’s also managed to take a few really good photos of interiors there, (I’d say that he did it when I wasn’t looking, but I basically was looking into his lens all of the time!) on the way to the place he’s photographed an old sculpture and on the photos preview in his camera, he showed me some brilliant outdoor shots of his friends.
Frankly, I can’t help feeling that I’ve met Midas of photography who’s just a nice dude at the same time.
I am only 23 and even though, it was long ago when I last time went extra mile and stepped out of my routine – on the second year of my studies I took part in the 39th national speech contest organized by the Embassy of Japan in Poland.
I won it.
Thanks to that I could visit Okinawa, Tokio, Kioto, see Himeji castle, travel by shinkansen, eat okonomiyaki in Hiroshima, sleep on a futon, take a bath in hot springs, enjoy Japanese vending machines on every step and many more, too many to list them all here.
This time, one could say it was just a photo session, but somehow, it’s refined myself in my own eyes – making me remember that there are still countless challenges to take and a lot to experience. And maybe it’s high time to try something new?
Would like to meet Martin or speak with Bartek about session for You?
Feel free to e-mail: biuro.bartekwyrobek@gmail.com or call +48607847670.
Let me know what do You think about photographs like that in comment below: