Yana Skakun
Yana Skakun
Norwich, Norfolk
Natural and cinematic portrait photography in Norwich and across Norfolk — the Cathedral Close, the medieval Lanes, Earlham Park, the Norfolk Broads National Park and the north Norfolk AONB coast.
Norwich has more medieval churches within its city walls than any other city in northern Europe — 36 pre-Reformation churches survive in the city centre alone, many now converted to arts venues, cafes, and galleries. This extraordinary architectural density, combined with the Norman cathedral and its 900-year-old monastic close, the flint-knapped medieval Guildhall, and the cobbled lanes of the Elm Hill conservation district, gives Norwich a portrait photography landscape of medieval urban character matched in England only by York. For natural landscape settings, the Norfolk Broads National Park begins within 10 miles of Norwich; the north Norfolk coast and its AONB (designated for its distinctive flat light and vast skies) is 30 miles to the north.
I photograph all portrait types in Norwich: personal branding and professional headshots for Norfolk's growing digital, academic, and food-and-drink economy; family and couple portraits; editorial and creative sessions; corporate photography. Norwich's medieval Elm Hill and the Cathedral Close provide the city's best architectural portrait backdrops; Earlham Park and the Yare Valley provide the best urban green-space portrait settings.
I cover Norwich and the wider Norfolk and north Suffolk area — including Aylsham, North Walsham, Dereham, Wymondham, Attleborough, Beccles, and the full Norfolk Broads waterway system.
Norwich Cathedral Close — the medieval monastic precinct surrounding Norwich Cathedral (1096–1145), one of the finest Norman cathedrals in England, with the second-tallest spire in the country at 96 metres — is the premier architectural portrait location in Norwich. The Norman nave, the Romanesque apse, the 15th-century spire, the cloisters (the largest cloister area in England, with 400 medieval roof bosses), the Bishop's palace garden, and the close's Georgian houses combine to give the Cathedral Close a portrait backdrop of mediaeval architectural density exceptional even by English standards. The Ethelbert Gate and the medieval precinct wall provide portrait character at the close boundaries.
Elm Hill — the best-preserved medieval flint-cobbled lane in England, running from Tombland (the medieval market outside the Cathedral gate) to St Peter Hungate church and the Bridewell — is the most photographed street in Norwich. The overhanging timber-framed buildings, the flint-cobbled surface, the medieval church of St Peter Hungate at the hill's top, and the lane's unchanged width (the medieval building line survives intact) provide a portrait backdrop of extraordinary historical character. The Norwich Lanes — the network of medieval lanes between St Benedict's Street, London Street, and St Giles — extend the Elm Hill character across a larger area.
Earlham Park — the 122-acre park surrounding Earlham Hall (now the law school of the University of East Anglia) on the western edge of Norwich — is the most used urban park portrait location in the city. The mature lime avenues, the park lakes, the meadow areas, and the UEA campus — Denys Lasdun's iconic 1960s Ziggurat student residences above the Yare valley — provide portrait settings that range from formal historic parkland to modernist architectural character. The Yare Valley itself (the broad pastoral river valley below the UEA campus) provides Norfolk's classic river-meadow portrait setting accessible from central Norwich.
The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads National Park — the network of navigable rivers and lakes (broads) formed by medieval peat extraction in the valleys of the Yare, Bure, Thurne, Ant, and Waveney — provides the most distinctive natural portrait landscape accessible from Norwich. The reed-bed fens, the open water of the broads (Wroxham Broad, Barton Broad, Hickling Broad), the drainage windmills on the marsh horizon, and the sailing wherries on the Bure at Wroxham combine to give Broads portrait sessions a completely flat, wide-sky character specific to this unique English landscape. The reflections in the still waters at dawn on the Broads are among the most photographically extraordinary natural phenomena in East Anglia.
The north Norfolk coast AONB — the salt-marsh, dune, and beach system from Holme-next-the-Sea east to Weybourne, including the Holkham National Nature Reserve — is one of England's most photographically distinctive coastal landscapes. The vast tidal salt marshes, the pine-backed beach at Holkham (the location of the final scene of Shakespeare in Love), the wooden sea defences at Wells-next-the-Sea, and the vast open sky of the Norfolk coast combine to give north Norfolk portrait sessions a quality of horizontal space and light found nowhere else on the English coast. The 50-minute drive from Norwich is well worth the effort for clients wanting the north Norfolk light.
Blickling Estate — the National Trust Jacobean country house with its elaborate formal parterre garden and 18th-century landscape park north of Aylsham — is the finest country house portrait setting within easy reach of Norwich. The brick-and-stone Jacobean east front, the yew topiary of the parterre, the long lime avenue to the house, and the park lake combine to give Blickling a portrait setting of formal historic character unmatched in Norfolk. The 15-mile drive from Norwich makes Blickling a practical extended-session destination for Norwich portrait commissions wanting a country house setting.
£245
45 min
£395
90 min
£595
Half day
Yes — combining the medieval lanes and Cathedral Close for the architectural urban element with a Broads dawn session at Wroxham or Barton Broad is one of my most popular Norwich extended session formats. The Broads are 15 minutes from the city centre and the dawn light on the still water in summer is worth an early start.
Yes — Holkham is one of the finest beach portrait locations in England and I photograph there for Norwich-based clients wanting the north Norfolk light and landscape. The recommended session time is late afternoon in summer (the pine-backed beach section is in full light from 3pm in July and August) or early morning for the empty beach and mist over the tidal flats.
Primary headshots and personal brand portrait sessions for Norwich's growing professional and creative community — the UEA academic sector, the food and drinks industry, the arts organisations, the digital and tech companies at the Norwich Research Park. I also offer more extended personal brand sessions combining the medieval streetscape of Elm Hill with the contemporary architecture of the UEA campus for a Norwich-specific personal brand visual identity.
Complete the form below with your session type and preferred dates. I'll confirm availability within 48 hours and send a session planning questionnaire.
Share your ideas and preferred dates — I'll get back within 48 hours.
Get in Touch
Tell me about your vision and I'll be in touch within 24 hours.