to 2025

Featured

A list of industry terms and slang used by photographers.

Editing a photography portfolio is never really finished. A few thoughts on cutting old work, adding new photographs, and deciding what deserves to stay.

On Looking

Photography changes what we notice. Some thoughts on observation, selective attention, perception, and learning to see shape, light and colour rather than simply what things mean.

Recent work - November 2024

Recent portrait commissions

Recent work - September 2024

Recent portrait and lifestyle photography commissions

Mean Girls

London Theatre Magazine shoot of the cast of Mean Girls

Wakehurst

A commission to photograph some of the team at Wakehurst botanic gardens

Graduation

Graduation coverage for the University of London at the Barbican

Recent work - April 2024

Various portrait and corporate commissions from the past few months

Recent work - January 2024

Commissions for a range of clients, including Singapore Airlines and iCrossing

Long live the local

A selection of portraits of publicans, draymen, farmers and pubgoers around the country for a BBPA campaign

CBRE

Business magazine portrait commission

Recent work - October 2023

Various work, including commissions for SOAS, Ikea, Ebay and Amex

Seeing past the subject (2)

Rules for using celebrities in one's portfolio

Recent work - April 2023

Portraits, portraits, and portraits

Will AI do me out of a job?

Thoughts about AI in photography, now it's started to get competent

The forever purge

Notes on how to maintain and curate a photography portfolio.

Recent work - June 2025

Recent work: a mix of portraits, case studies, PR, lifestyle, and business headshots.

On Looking

Reflections on a book which shows how experts experience the world differently in that they notice different things. Photography is an easily-accessible way to shift our own attention towards being in the moment, and away from the endless flow of thought which leaves us on autopilot for so much of our lives.

Featured

Freelance life and other animals

My background in press photography, and my life as a freelance

Recent work - November 2022

Commissions for AB magazine, Drapers, iCrossing, and others

Recent work - July 2022

Portraits for GSK, GoFundMe and AB magazine

SOAS

Lifestyle / prospectus / portrait shoot for a major university

Ebay

Flat lay shoot to illustrate the money to be earned from reselling lockdown purchases

Vertex

Imagery for global biotech firm, Vertex

Recent work - December 2021

A handful of miscellaneous commissions from recent months

Prevayl

Fitness event coverage for wearable device brand, Prevayl

The day the hairdressers opened

Lots and lots (and lots) of business portraits

SOAS - postgraduate prospectus

Prospectus portraits for SOAS, University of London

Online teaching

I’ve been running online photography classes recently, while the world is on hold.

Gratitudes

We can complain all day long about anything and everything. But finding something positive - especially on a bad day - can help change our neural pathways.

Headshots: why we need them, and why we don't like them

Everything you need to know about business headshots: how to prepare, what they are, and why they’re important

From the archives - seven

A brain-dump of thoughts about portfolios, ‘show pictures’, niches, rediscovering old photos and one’s personal style.

Recent work - September 2020

Recent commissions during Covid. Also, pretty much the entirety of my work during Covid.

Mootral

I was commissioned to photograph cows, farmers and more cows for Mootral, an environmentally friendly food-supplement.

Biteback 2030

Portraits at Jamie Oliver’s office to accompany a healthy eating campaign

B3 Living

Case study photography for a housing association

Recent work - July 2019

Recent commissions - business portraits and event coverage

From the archives - six

I briefly met John Boyega before he was famous. It was unusual for me to remember his face as I have prosopagnosia.

Recent work - April 2019

Some recent photography, including commissions by University of London, Wandsworth Council, Pearson, and Standard Chartered Bank.

International Women's Day

Landsec commissioned me again to shoot portraits for IWD at their offices in Victoria

Recent work - February 2019

Recent work for National Theatre, Toyota, and others, as well as another appearance teaching photography at Facebook HQ

Four photographs

On pilfering photos from my parents' house

Featured

From the archives - five

A few images from PR commissions

How to compose photographs

Composition is the one thing you can control. Here’s everything you need to know about composing photographs.

Recent work - November 2018

Recent portrait commissions

How to edit photographs in Instagram

How to edit photos using the Instagram app tools - and why you absolutely must

Out with the old

Thoughts on improving as a photographer, and objectivity in portfolio curation

Recent work - October 2018

A selection of recent images from a range of commissions, from clients including National Theatre, University of London, and Epson

A little learning is a dangerous thing

Thoughts on improving and developing a skill with reference to The Cycle of Competence and The Dunning-Kruger Effect

From the archives - four

A selection of no-context commissions from recent years

Recent work - August 2018

Recent portrait, business and editorial commissions

I don't follow you

Judgy commentary on the hypocrisy, fakery and rot of Instagram

Cookpad

Editorial portraits of Cookpad founder Aki Sano

Monks & Marbles

Images of novice monks playing marbles, one afternoon in Kathmandu

Netflix & Woof

Images from a Netflix / Dogs Trust shoot

Best of Instagram

A selection of my favourite IG posts - usually details and abstracts

Standard Chartered Bank

A few images from an annual report commission from Standard Chartered Bank

Corporate self-portraiture (two)

Efforts at self-portraits for my website and socials

International Women's Day

A commission from Landsec showcasing female members of staff for IWD

Winter swimming

Portraits of a cold-water swimmer

Featured

2017 in pictures

A selection of commissions from the past year for clients including National Theatre, Huawei, Sense and Pfizer

Toyota Mobility Foundation

Portraits taken by myself and photographers around the world for a multimillion-dollar campaign challenge with the goal of improving the lives of people with lower-limb paralysis

Corporate work

A selection of recent headshots and business portraits

Recent work - October 2017

A range of recent commissions, including portrait, event and performance photography

Pfizer - Protecting our Heroes

Portraits of grandparents and grandchildren for Pfizer

Wyborowa vodka

Product and lifestyle photography commission for Wyborowa vodka

Vauxhall animation

A stop-frame animation shoot for Vauxhall

Take your parents to work

Facebook / Instagram gave me a stall in their offices to answer photography questions from visitors on their ‘Take your parents to work day’.

Recent work - June 2017

A range of recent images, including portraits, corporate work, and personal / abstract shots

Huawei - The New Aesthetic

St. Martin’s College students design accessories for Huawei, around the launch of a new phone

S.H.O.K.K.

Portraits of a DJ

Parkour Generations

Portraits of parkour practitioners

War Horse in Brighton

National Theatre’s War Horse photographed on Brighton Beach as part of UK tour publicity

Jane Eyre

My approach to a large group photo of the Jane Eyre cast and crew on set, shot for National Theatre

Framing 101

A photo of me from inside a washing-machine

Featured

Studio Fractal

Office-based portrait and lifestyle shoot for a specialist architectural lighting design company

Musician

Portraits of musician Matt Smith

While I was waiting...

Images taken in the spaces between things

Canvas

Portraits of educators and students in London, Birmingham, Trondheim and Oxford

Rose Bruford

Prospectus images for a higher education college which offers courses around the performing arts

Instawalks

A selection of images from photography classes I’ve been running for Facebook

Property brochure

An editorial shoot for Landsec based around the parks, shops and offices around central London

Breaks and burns

A small selection of images commissioned by the British Red Cross for First Aid advice

Mixed bag

A small selection of unseen portraits

Sky Garden

Photographs of the Sky Garden at the Walkie Talkie building, commissioned by Landsec

Romain Grosjean

Commission (alongside video) for Microsoft Lumia with F1 driver Romain Grosjean

Egosurfing

The top Google results when I search "Alex Rumford"

Ratings are overrated

Thoughts on improving as a photographer and portfolio curation

Seeing past the subject

Is it a good portrait, or just a well-known face?

British Gas

Lifestyle campaign photography for British Gas

Problem solving vs creativity

I get told regularly that, being a photographer, I must be 'creative'. I’m not.

2014 in pictures

A selection of commissions from 2014

2013 in pictures

A selection of commissions from 2013

2012 in pictures

A selection of commissions from 2012

to 2025

0778 222 5244

info@alexrumford.com