Personal Portraits
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Personal portraits are made with a different agenda to commercial or business portraits. They seek to achieve a sense of an individuals personality and personal brand. They are informally made and also created within an informal setting. They can be close up in format or at a distance to include a sense of personal environment. Personal portraits often are taken in the home or in a place where the client can claim a sense of belonging. They are usually made when the person in question is already known well in the public space, usually for business or charity work etc.. They tend to be created to say something about the client that is more than business. To illustrate a different angle or side and/or to provide depth and a visual richness.
moreI met Kenny Khan on a visit to Caernarfon 18 months ago and was recently commissioned to photograph him. Kenny is a vibrant character; highly active within the community and is passionate when it comes to the welfare and the people of Caernarfon, North Wales.
Kenny, was born one of seven children all placed in to care. After absconding from his foster home at the age of 11, he worked the markets of the Bull Ring in Birmingham for much of his teenage years. Here he found a life worth living in his passion for business and food, the latter which has run through his veins for a life time so far.
Kenny became a self employed market trader, became a DJ, a songwriter in several bands, a stage, TV and film actor and opened his first restaurant in 1993, to name but a few of his achievements.
He become a vital figure within his community as a volunteer to the local estate assisting the unemployed to secure qualifications and gain meaningful employment and in 2009 he set up a mobile community food kitchen, providing training and jobs and producing affordable food for all. This led to a BAFTA nomination.
More recently Kenny became a major distributor locally of the ‘Foodshare’ project in partnership with Tesco supermarkets to provide donated food to families on low income and the vulnerable. He has also became a director of ‘Caernarfon food festival’.
In 2017 he was elected as town Councillor and in 2018, was presented with a Community Champion award. Currently Kenny is working on promoting his bespoke cheffing services. He seeks commissions for private functions and has worked more recently on location catering for film sets and TV companies.
We decided to shoot locally on the streets of Caernarfon and made images that place him in the centre of town and community.
Photographer: Suzanne Fells
Client: Kenny Khan
kennybespokechef@gmail.com
Date: November 2018
Location: Caernarfon, North Wales.