About Me & Test Shoots NYC

I'm a portrait and fashion photographer in New York City, working with models on test shoots — from first tests to editorial collaborations, in color and black-and-white from a SoHo studio. If you're building or refreshing your book, here's how I work and how to reach me.

Photography is personal. Everyone carries a sense of how they see themselves—my job is to recognize that and bring it forward. Some days we get it exactly right. Other days I learn something. Technique matters, but what holds you in an image is the person in it.

I want the shoot to feel easy—a space where you can forget the camera is there and just be present. The pictures that last aren't the most polished ones; they're the ones that catch something real and hold up on a second look. That's what I'm after: an image that looks like you, and means something to whoever's looking.

I'm grateful to everyone who's trusted me in front of the lens. That trust is what makes the work possible.

Neil Bainton
Portrait & fashion photographer — based in New York.
LinkedIn · Instagram @portraitart.nyc

I shoot primarily at 9 Studios in SoHo—tests, beauty, and editorial fashion, in color and black & white. I work regularly with agency-signed talent and understand what your book and your agency actually need from a shoot.

What a test includes

A focused session at a fully-equipped studio, planned around the looks you're building 

Fully retouched, high-resolution selects, chosen together

Clean beauty and natural-light looks alongside stronger editorial

Digitals and web-sized files formatted to agency specs

Full usage for your portfolio, comp card, and promotion

Newer faces are welcome too—if you're early in building your book, that's part of the work I enjoy.