Photographing "unruly novelist & poet" S S Haque.
I’ve known S S Haque for over 15 years but we hadn’t stayed in touch, for one reason or another. That was until we started following each other online, and she later emailed me to ask if I would do some portrait photography for her, to which I said, “of course!”
S S describes herself as an “unruly novelist, poet, Muay Thai boxer & comms nerd,” and was looking for a set of portraits that would be suitable for representing her in multiple contexts. Increasingly I’m being hired to do personal branding photography (which I love) and increasingly, I’m finding that the people commissioning want to tie in all aspects of their personalities. No more standing in a suit in front of a white wall as your Linked In pic.
The Southbank was chosen as a location, both because it’s such an interesting place architecturally speaking and also because it’s one of S S’s most frequent hang-outs. It’s also one of my most favourite places in London, so I’m always happy to be there.
As well as being a great chance to test out my new SONY Alpha kit in a portrait context, it was a great chance to catch up with S S. We spent A LOT of time, if not, all our time chatting about London, music, stories of youth; previous photography shoots, lockdown (of course) and her poetry. I can’t find any online but as soon as I do, I’ll post it here. In the meantime, follow her on Twitter; she’s brilliant.
