Portrait photography at the science faculty

What happens if you take portrait photography skills to work as a scientist? A white wall, some lamps, a lab website and happy colleagues.

All academic research groups have a high turnover of people working—BSc and MSc students, PhD candidates and postdocs working alongside the staff and technicians. Throughout the last three years, I’ve worked with and alongside many talented young people and had the privilege of making portraits for the lab website, enhancing my portrait photography skills.

I’ve learned that you only need a tiny space, the back of a poster board and two desklamps to build the occasional studio when new people arrive. The most challenging but fun part is to get a natural friendly expression so the photos can be used for the lab’s website.

I did one of the last sessions I will do for the group the previous week, as I will be leaving Radboud University for another job in Utrecht. I thought sharing the portraits from the Huck group below would give a fun overview of the talented people in chemistry, physics and biology during my stay at the physical organic chemistry department.

I’ve also taken photos of other groups last few years, exploring how to do portrait photography of people that are usually not used to standing comfortably in front of a camera (including myself). I might share more portraits on the blog later on. For now, enjoy the photographs of lab members and Sammie, Wilhelm’s dog, that made up a fantastic team of scientists to work with.