Saturday Workshop: Portrait Photography with Jeremy Abrahams (1)

A composite image of three photographs by Jeremy Abrahams. From left to right. The first photograph is of a young, black woman wearing a black leather jacket and leggings, black converse trainers and a black top. She has long braided hair in shades of black and blonde. She sits cross legged on the paved ground. She sits at the intersection of two decorative curving lines in the paved design. She is looking out to the right of the photograph at something unknown in the distance.

The second (middle) photograph shows a white man sat with his hands clasped on top of a bar. He has full beard and is wearing a red plaid shirt. Two columns extend from the bar to the top of the image. Tucked behind one is a framed school photograph that looks around twenty years old. Behind him there is a red stage curtain with a spotlight shining on it. The man is looking up and right out of the frame.

The final photograph shows a black woman with short black hair wearing a black top. She is stood outside at the bottom of a set of curved, grassy, stone steps. She is holding a blue hat with white/silver fringing around the brim. She wears a large beaded necklace and wire frame glasses. She is stood on the right of the image, looking out at something in the distance on the left.

Selected photographs from We Carry it With Us © Jeremy Abrahams

Enjoy a full day portrait photography workshop led by professional photographer Jeremy Abrahams.

The workshop will provide inspiration, help you develop easy and practical lighting and composition skills, and offer two opportunities to put these skills into practice with lots of feedback. Come along with any camera, from a phone to a DSLR – the focus will be on getting a good picture with whatever you have, not camera technicalities.

The workshop will start with a brief visit to the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 25 exhibition, to discuss the variety of portrait styles on show, followed by consideration of the lighting and compositional techniques used. You’ll discover some great works of portrait photography to get you really inspired and then have the chance to take your first portraits of each other.

Jeremy will have a look over the photos you took in the morning over the lunch break and share feedback with you – following that, it will be time to have another go, again working in pairs but this time photographing members of the public. After a final feedback session, you’ll head for home with a new set of photography skills and the confidence to develop your portraits further.

There will be a break for lunch, but lunch is not provided.

All participants will receive a free copy of Jeremy’s book ‘Arrivals: Making Sheffield Home’.

This workshop forms part of the programme of events complementing the exhibition Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2025 which is on display at Millennium Gallery from Saturday 21 February to Sunday 10 May.