Portrait photography projects
These portrait photography projects feature new work from photographers exploring the medium in fresh and exciting ways.
Personal Work Journal is dedicated to exploring the best new photography projects, and sharing the personal projects of photographers, film makers and creatives.
Along side work from noted portrait photographers like Ryan Shude and Amit Lennon, there’s work from emerging artists like Aisha Ife and Rosie Barnes.
There are self portraits from Nelly Atting and intimate work from Nicola Morley.
Featured Portrait Photography
Nelly Atting
I think of myself as a social scientist who uses photography, exploring social behaviours, in visual way.
Nelly Ating is a Nigerian photographer and her work focuses on deconstructing trauma in education, conflict and migration.
She uses her self portrait photography to create stories for advocacy, putting faces to figures more often just seen in the news.
Nicola Morley
In the last 5 years I’ve moved countries, got divorced and done an MA. Photography has been a way of making sense of all that.
With these portraits of her mother, Nicola Morley ventures into very personal territory to produce an intimate document of need and understanding.
Her photo project, “A Glass of Water”, is about life with her mother as her health deteriorates with a lung disorder.
Latest Portrait Projects
Portrait photographer Ruth Toda Nation’s new photobook asks, what do we leave behind?
NAME Ruth Toda-Nation JOB Documentary photographer PROJECT Our Lockdown Garden Published by Mindful Editions, £40 Recently we’ve interviewed several photographers who although in their 50s might still be considered emerging talents: people like Wendy Aldiss, Rosie...
With her portraits of autistic women, Rosie Barnes gives voice to an under represented community.
NAME Rosie Barnes JOB Documentary Photographer WEBSITE Rosie Barnes PROJECT No You're NotPortraits of autistic women Rosie Barnes is a documentary photographer who has a particular interest in what she terms disability/difference. She has produced work that looks at...
Wendy Aldiss My Father’s Things
NAME Wendy Aldiss JOB Documentary Photographer WEBSITE Wendy Aldiss PROJECT My Father's ThingsWendy Aldiss is a fine art and social documentary photographer who has a particular interest in environmental portraiture, and has she produced a body of work that explores...
With Hen, Bex Day aims to give older transgender people a presence in 40 portraits of people over 40.
Dan NAME Bex day JOB Fashion & portrait photographer WEBSITE Bex Day PROJECT HenPortrait photographer Bex Day Bex Day is a photographer working in fashion and portraiture. Her client list is an impressive roster of magazines such as the New York Times and...
Focusing on Hong Kong’s drag scene enables Kasper Forest to explore conflict at a local & personal level.
Siufung Law, LGBT+ advocate, life coach & bodybuilderNAME Kasper Forest JOB Photographer/Multi-media Artist WEBSITE Kasper Forest PROJECT Immediate SexualityLGBTQ portrait photography Kasper Forest describes himself as a multimedia artist, screen writer and...
Greg Turner has used a series of intensely personal projects to develop a body of work that is rapidly attracting acclaim & attention
NAME Greg Turner JOB Sales WEBSITE Greg Turner PROJECT The Divided Self Greg Turner is a portrait photographer who works in a series of long term projects, lasting months or sometimes years. His work is intensely personal seeking to reveal as much about himself as to...
Portrait photographer Amit Lennon turns everyday documents into a subtle barometor of mood & fears
NAME Amit Lennon JOB Art Colour Portrait Photographer WEBSITE Amit Lennon PROJECT 2pm Lockdown2pm Lockdown started as a compilation of the every day documenting the subtle ebb and flow of family life yet ended up a barometer of our changing moods, fears and lunch...
Aisha Ife drew on personal experience to produce a series of intimate portraits.
NAME Aisha Ife JOB Portrait & Product Photographer WEBSITE Aisha Ife PHOTO PROJECT The Skin Series "I want my images of people to feel like home and I like to capture my subjects being themselves and comfortable" Nigerian portrait photographer Aisha Ife Aisha Ife...
Shot in the high passes of the Himalayas, almost ruined by poor lab work and then left in a box for 10 years, Sebastien Tickner’s Road Workers finally sees the light.
NAME Sebastien Tickner JOB Documentary Photographer WEBSITE Sebastien & Louise PROJECT Road WorkersPhotography is so intertwined with my life that in many ways, it is my life. The camera gives me a reason to travel, to spend time or to sit and maybe spend an hour,...
For Nigerian photojournalist Nelly Ating, a deeply personal project has brought a new perspective to her conflict photography.
NAME Nelly Ating JOB Photographer WEBSITE Nelly Ating PROJECT Self Portrait I think my work is a deeply personal thing, it's not for everybody and I’ve come to terms with that. Nelly Ating is a Nigerian photographer and her work focuses on...
Caroline Molloy, Programme Director at UCA Farnham, used a pop-up studio to create a new iconography of the Women of Walsall.
NAME Caroline Molloy JOB Course Leader UCA Farnham WEBSITE Caroline Molloy PROJECT Women of WalsallPersonal work is your research, it’s your voice. It is a reflection of the critical perspective with which you perceive and understand the world.Caroline Molloy is the...
A move to a new city prompted Zoe Hamill to explore the limits of photography to convey identity and sensation.
Bruise from an oak treeNAME Zoe Hamill JOB Freelance photographer/teacher WEBSITE Zoe Hamill PROJECT A Map Without WordsPhotographing the landscape that's been home to generations of her family helped Zoe to examine the connection she feels to the land.WHAT’S YOUR DAY...
Nicola Morley ventures into very personal territory to produce an intimate document of need and understanding.
NAME Nicola Morely JOB Portrait photographer WEBSITE Nicola Morley PROJECT A Glass of WaterIn the last 5 years I’ve moved countries, got divorced, fallen in love with photography and done an MA. Photography has been a way of making sense of all that. Nicola Morley is...
Fashion photographer Simon Martin has produced a uncanny set of pictures inside the world of military cadets.
NAME Simon Martin JOB Freelance Photographer WEBSITE Simon Martin PROJECT CadetsMy personal work allows me to get back to the reason I started taking photos. If I'm enjoying making the work, it's worth it.Simon Martin is a busy freelance photographer, shooting product...
Concentrating on long term personal projects helped Tim Richmond shift his practice to documentary photography.
NAME Tim Richmond JOB Photographer WEBSITE Tim Richmond PROJECT Love BitesWhen you lay your head on the pillow at night, it's the personal work that's the thing that's likely to make you feel proud and satisfied.WHAT’S YOUR DAY JOB? AND WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE...
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New portrait photography projects
Debby Besford
I spend a lot of time having cups of tea, just sitting and chatting, and getting to know new people and thinking about what it is I actually want to show
Debby Besford’s project, Great Yarmouth Model Boat Club, is a deft blend of portrait photographs and documentary work.
Together they create a tender but clear eyed look at a disparate group of people united by a common passion.
Amit Lennon
2pm Lockdown started as a compilation of the every day documenting the subtle ebb and flow of family life yet ended up a barometer of our changing moods, fears and lunch choices
Amit Lennon is a UK based photographer who is known for his intimate, distinctive and sensitive portraits.
Here he shares 2pm Lockdown, a self published ‘zine giving us a peek into his own domestic world.
Aisha Ife
My personal project, The Skin Series, is about communicating the difficulties people living with acne go through in our community. It was inspired by my own experiences.
Aisha Ife is a portrait and product photographer based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Aisha is passionate about improving the visibility of women in photography and creative genres as a whole and she founded Tiwa, a community of Nigerian female photographers.
Wendy Aldis
My photographs say something about human behaviour or the human condition. So My Father’s Things was a portrait of him but because he’d passed away, he wasn’t in it.
Wendy Aldiss has a particular interest in environmental portraiture, and she’s produced a body of work that explores the key stages in people’s lives.
My Father’s Things is a portrait of the late sci-fi writer, Brian Aldiss, created from 1000s of his belongings.
About Personal Work Journal
PWJ is a photo journal dedicated to searching out and showcasing the latest personal photographic projects.
We believe that personal work allows photographers to explore their true passions and interests, to try new techniques or simply to shoot for the pleasure of taking pictures.
All good work is personal.
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