The operations of government and diplomacy monopolize the US capital’s perception, leaving its standing as a hub for research and business relatively unnoticed. DC is home to think tanks charting the course of the future, financial institutions standing tall against national and international counterparts, and a mass media ecosystem thriving on the policymaking of the day. It’s a serious place where serious things happen, enough to create ripples across America and the world. Its changemakers certainly deserve time in front of the camera, and we’ve found the best Washington, DC, corporate photographers using our directory to help out.
At Wonderful Machine, corporate photography encompasses the world of business. It can be shot in reportage, lifestyle, portrait, or conceptual styles. DC, though, requires some personalization, given how the realms of non-profits and politics also carry that “corporate” look and feel. We’ll put it down to the many flavors of work life in the city. So, we’ve simplified your search for a DC corporate photographer by finding seven individuals representing its distinct style of business, occasionally crossing into the nearby territories we mentioned.
Ryan Donnell is a DC corporate photographer with a background in the news world. After studying photojournalism at the University of Missouri and working for several newspapers, he developed a style of shooting steeped in reportage, now deployed dutifully across both commercial and editorial landscapes. His corporate portfolio covers both work life and portraits. The former carries that fly-on-the-wall approach to capture people at their most raw and genuine, while the latter sees his subjects exude positivity and confidence across various work backdrops. Both sections exhibit a sense of honesty and sincerity through the signature aesthetic he has worked on for years.
Ryan’s clients include Fortune, Entrepreneur, Harvard Business School Magazine, Money, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Microsoft, Barnes Foundation, Google, The Franklin Institute, and many others.
Before turning to photography in 2008, Jonathan Thorpe was in the field of optometry. Given this background in everything connected to the eyes, his masterful direction of lighting should be no surprise. His corporate portfolio reveals a penchant for the dramatic and cinematic, relying on moody highlights and shadows to illuminate his subjects. His compositions are daring in nature, unafraid to include conceptual elements through props and settings to depict the essence of his subject’s character.
Jonathan is a Tamron Image Master, Westcott Top Pro, Rangefinder Magazine People Choice award winner, and Holdfast Gear Ambassador. Additionally, he’s called on for teaching and lecture opportunities internationally. His clients include CBS, Virgin, Coca-Cola, Apple, FOX, The Washington Post, InvestmentNews, BMW, Red Bull, and many more.
Among our selection of Washington, DC, corporate photographers, Bob Rives prioritizes storytelling through unique compositions. In fact, he can illustrate a narrative without even showing his subject’s face, using their body language, the setting, and light and color to strike the required mood and tone. For example, a black and white photo shot from over a subject’s shoulder, with everyone else appearing blurry, could reveal them to be in deep thought as they tune out the noise. Or the shot of a man walking with the Wall Street Journal in hand could imply that he’s getting ready for the daily grind of business. If your next campaign requires a narrative to be told, Bob is a fine choice.
Bob’s clients include Bloomberg, Capital One, Deloitte, FedEx, Forbes, IBM, McKinsey, The New York Times, Oracle, Popular Mechanics, UPS, Verizon, The World Bank, and many more.
If you’re looking for a DC corporate photographer specializing in portraiture, Noah Willman is among the top contenders. He has a knack for letting people’s personalities shine through in studio settings and via environmental portraits, doing so in more color than the typical corporate photographer is used to. It’s a style that provides a sunny disposition to the world of business, revealing a range of individuals with optimistic and idealistic visions of work life.
Noah’s clients include AARP, Discovery, Fortune Magazine, Harvard Business Review, International Relief and Development, MIT Tech Review, Myspace, NYT Co., Rogers, Salvation Army, Scholastic, Variety, Washingtonian, Wall Street Journal, Wired (German Edition), World Bank, and many others.
Matthew Rakola learned photography as a student at Syracuse University, but he also took lessons in the craft during his time as a bartender. Both practices require exceptional people skills, and these people skills help him satisfy numerous clients across the commercial, editorial, and advertising spaces today. Washington, DC, corporate photographers are after different tones with their images. For Matthew, it’s a feeling of “real.” Whether his subject is in a staredown contest with a computer screen or enjoying a moment of respite seated on a bench, Matthew takes a minimally invasive stance on set so that people can reveal their true selves in his images.
Matthew has worked with 2U, Google, National Geographic Kids, The Kresge Foundation, Outward Bound of Chesapeake Bay, Price Waterhouse Cooper, Science Magazine, Systems Alliance, Thomson Reuters, and several other editorial clients and universities.
As the epicenter of American decision-making, DC is home to a large cast of politicians, activists, and media professionals. Stephen Voss’s camera has been witness to all three through his portraiture work, striking a range of emotions from bleak and pensive to hopeful and ambitious. He has a gift for externalizing his subject’s thinking in the overall composition, finding a balance between light, shadow, and color to do so. It’s a powerful method of photography that has seen his photos welcomed to the permanent collection of the Library of Congress and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Washingtonia Collection.
Stephen’s clients include Salesforce, Hilton, CNN, Time, AARP, Stern, Wired, Forbes, Variety, Politico, Esquire, Outside, Buzzfeed, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, The Guardian, New York Magazine, National Public Radio, Smithsonian Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The London Sunday Times, The New York Times Magazine, and others.
André Chung is an award-winning photojournalist and portrait photographer. He has received the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Domestic Photography, the George Polk Award, and the Sigma Delta Chi Award while being nominated for the Pulitzer Prize five times. He brings an exceptional range of skill and expertise with the camera extending to both the commercial and editorial landscapes.
As a DC corporate photographer, André strives to be true to his client’s message and story, eschewing your run-of-the-mill take within the specialty in favor of one deep in evocative imagery.
The goal is communication. Photography is the vehicle… It’s all about the people for me. I don’t want any barriers between me and my subjects. I want to connect with them in the most authentic way possible.
André’s clients include Apple, AARP, Time magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, The New York Times, NBC News Pictures, and The Atlantic.
The confluence of business and politics meets on the east bank of the Potomac, and these corporate photographers know how to capture both worlds in various tones for commercial and editorial campaigns. You’re in safe hands!
Further Reading
See more Washington, DC corporate photographers on our Find Photographers page.
Learn more about other types of photography on our Specialties page.
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