Christopher O. banks

202-509-5502

 

photography

My approach to shooting headshots comes from a lifetime of involvement in theater. I’ve been an actor, a technician, a board member...and always a fan. Because my first experience with any art form was in theater, the foundation of my work assumes the same kind of collaborative methods I learned in the theater.


Just like a production is a collaboration between the actors, the writer, the technicians, and the director, a headshot is a collaboration between the photographer and the actor.  The actor defines the message, both physically and emotionally, and TOGETHER the photographer and the actor convey that message through a photograph.


I can make you look pretty, but I don’t know you, and I don’t know what you want to communicate unless you tell me, and then SHOW me during our shoot. Think of the camera as an audience. You’re doing in front of my camera exactly what you do when you step in front of an audience. The camera will only see what you show it, and so will the people looking at the resulting headshot.


The most important aspect of my job is to create an environment that allows you the comfort and space to do what you do, and to help you to create an image that effectively conveys your message. Just like an actor breathes life into a script, an actor breathes life into their headshot. You should choose me because I work with the assumption that it’s the actor that makes a headshot great, not the photographer.

Why should I choose Chris as my photographer?