Shaan Esther Shaan Esther

Why I Hesitate to Say Yes to Passport Photos

When people ask if I can take their passport photo, I often hesitate. Not because it's difficult, but because passport photos and portraits serve two very different purposes. One is about recognition. The other is about representation.

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Shaan Esther Shaan Esther

It Started With a Selfie

A client was invited to speak at a conference and needed a professional portrait for the event. A reflection on speaker profiles, first impressions and why different moments call for different photographs.

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Shaan Esther Shaan Esther

When the Company Logo Comes Off

She had spent years building a respected career inside established organisations. Then came the decision to build something of her own. A reflection on why, when the company logo comes off, your portrait often becomes part of your introduction.

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Shaan Esther Shaan Esther

Strangers. Teachers.

I never quite know who's going to walk through the door. But every person who sits in front of my camera carries a story and I always leave the session richer for it.

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Shaan Esther Shaan Esther

A.I and the human part

As a lecturer and a photographer, AI keeps showing up in my world in different forms. In the classroom, in the studio, in the questions clients ask. The technology isn't the hard part. The harder question is what we risk outsourcing along the way.

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Shaan Esther Shaan Esther

I Look Like My Father

During a viewing session, a client paused at one of his portraits and said something I wasn't expecting. It gave me goosebumps. After years of photographing people, this was the first time I watched someone find something in an image that had nothing to do with how they looked.

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