Portrait Photography San Francisco — A Writer's Session

Portrait Photography and the Written Word

Ann Jacobus Kordahl writes for children and young adults, and in 2015 she was preparing for the release of her debut novel — a book set in Paris. She needed new portraits that could carry the weight of that moment, and that's where this session began.

Writers are among the most rewarding portrait subjects — and among the most resistant. The work is invisible: it happens in private, at a desk, in a notebook, in the gap between one draft and the next. What a portrait of a writer has to do is something more subtle: find the face behind the voice.

We started at Cafe Du Soleil in San Francisco — a natural choice given Ann's Paris-set story. After some time in the warm French cafe, we turned the corner and set up a simple backdrop on the street. A beautiful natural breeze did the rest — no wind machine needed. The images that came out of this session have a particular quality of quiet that fits the subject: unguarded, specific, true.

Editorial Portraits in San Francisco

Portrait photography in San Francisco spans an enormous range — from polished corporate headshots in the Financial District to personal editorial portraits in the Mission. This session sits firmly in the editorial register: personal, unhurried, and shot with the same discipline Marc brings to commissions for the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times.

The images were made using one light, a clean background, and enough time to let the subject settle into the frame. That's all a portrait of a writer needs.

Portrait Photographer Available Across the Bay Area

Marc Olivier Le Blanc is a professional photographer and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. His portrait work spans commercial campaigns, editorial commissions, and personal projects across the Bay Area. For portrait photography in San Francisco or the wider Bay Area, contact Marc through the website to discuss your session.