I am Jean‑Luc Benazet.
I have been photographing people at work for 27 years, the last stretch of it from South Cambridgeshire, mostly for organisations within an hour of Cambridge.
Documentary first
My instinct is to photograph what is happening rather than to arrange something that is not. On a corporate day that means I spend the first half hour watching before I take anything seriously, working out where the light is, where people naturally stand, and what this organisation looks like when nobody is performing for a camera.
The exception is portraits and headshots, where the opposite is true: people want to be told exactly what to do, and it is my job to do the deciding. Almost everybody says they hate having their photograph taken. Almost everybody is fine once somebody competent is directing.
Available light, and the equipment to survive without it
I would rather use the light a building already has. It looks like the place, and it does not interrupt anybody. Cambridge college halls, winter afternoons and windowless labs make that impossible often enough that I carry lights to every job and know how to make them look like they were not there.
Turning up early
Most of what goes wrong on a shoot is logistics rather than photography: the room is locked, the group is smaller than expected, the keynote overran and the group shot has ten minutes instead of thirty. Arriving early and having a plan for the group shots solves most of it before it happens.
- 27years behind the camera
- 130five-star Google reviews
- 100+named organisations photographed since 2009
Who I have worked for.
- University of Cambridge
- Abcam
- AstraZeneca
- Altos Labs
- Deloitte
- PwC
- EY
- ARM
- AXA UK
- Mishcon de Reya
- Jazz Pharmaceuticals
- Quantinuum
- Citrix
- Schlumberger Cambridge Research
- Isaac Newton Institute
- Cambridge Judge Business School
- British Council for Offices
- Costello Medical
- Cambridge Design Partnership
- Cambridge Medical Robotics
- CN Bio
- Abzena
- Mestag Therapeutics
- MoA Technology
- Alzheimer’s Research UK
- Medical Research Council Mitochondrial Biology Unit
- THIS Institute
- Domino
- IDTechEx
- Azizi Developments
- Tourism New Zealand
- SciBite
- M&C Saatchi
- Cambridge Plant Sciences
- Cambridge University Engineering Department
- The Perse School
- Hot Numbers
- Urban Larder
What clients said afterwards.
We were delighted with the photographs that Jean-Luc took at the Institute’s 25th Anniversary celebrations. They perfectly captured the mood of the occasion, including some smashing portrait photos as well as large and small group photos. They will provide a fabulous record of the day for years to come. Jean-Luc’s manner was charming and non-intrusive and we have no hesitation in recommending him highly to others.
Christie MarrDeputy Director, Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge
We’ve worked with Jean-Luc for our past two business events, and the results have been outstanding every time. He has an incredible eye for capturing the energy and emotion of the day, and he’s an absolute pleasure to work with. We couldn’t recommend him highly enough and look forward to working with him for years to come.
Chloe Ducker
We’ve used Jean-Luc as the photographer for our company’s Christmas Parties for the past few years and he’s always done an excellent job. We’ve usually hosted our events in Cambridge colleges which can have a challenging array of lighting conditions, but this hasn’t stopped us getting some great photos. Particularly appreciate the ability to take good candid shots rather than just posing everyone.
Finlay Knops-Mckim
I genuinely wanted to thank you for your extra-ordinary services throughout our retreat. I can’t express how happy our delegates left with your thoughtful, generous, and professional attitude.
Bilal Qurechi
Tell me the date
Send the date, the venue and roughly what you need. I will come back with availability and a price, usually the same day.
- Emailjeanluc.benazet@gmail.com
- Phone+44 (0) 7811 512422
- WhatsAppMessage me