Yana Skakun
Yana Skakun
Southampton, Hampshire
Natural and cinematic portrait photography in Southampton and across Hampshire — the medieval Bargate and Old Town walls, the Western Esplanade, the Test Valley, and the New Forest just minutes from the city boundary.
Southampton is a maritime city with a layered portrait photography landscape. The medieval Old Town — the Bargate (one of the finest surviving medieval town gatehouses in England), the medieval city walls (the most complete surviving medieval town walls in England after those of York), God's House Tower, and the Tudor House — provides a portrait backdrop of urban archaeological depth that most English cities lack. The waterfront — the Western Esplanade, the Town Quay, and the Ocean Village marina — provides the maritime industrial character specific to Southampton's Solent setting. Beyond the city, the New Forest National Park — one of England's most photographically distinctive forest landscapes, with its ancient oak and beech woodland, open heathland, and free-roaming ponies — begins within 10 minutes of Southampton's western suburbs.
I photograph all portrait types in Southampton: personal branding and professional headshots, family and couple portraits, editorial and creative sessions, and corporate photography. Southampton's growing professional and creative sector — the university, the maritime and defence industries, the arts quarter around the Guildhall — provides a strong demand for professional portrait and branding photography.
I cover Southampton and the wider Hampshire area — including Winchester, Eastleigh, Romsey, the Test Valley, the New Forest, and west along the coast to Bournemouth and east to Portsmouth.
The Bargate — the 12th-century town gatehouse remodelled and extended through the 13th and 14th centuries, now standing isolated at the top of the High Street — is the finest medieval architectural portrait backdrop in Southampton. The carved stonework, the round towers, and the contrast of medieval stone against the modern High Street create a portrait setting of genuine historical drama. The medieval city walls — running for nearly a mile on the western and southern sides of the Old Town, with 29 towers surviving — provide a portrait backdrop of medieval urban character specific to Southampton and matched in extent only by York.
Southampton's Town Quay — the medieval quayside on the Southampton Water embayment at the foot of the Old Town — provides a maritime portrait setting with the constant movement of Solent shipping as backdrop. The Red Funnel ferry terminal, the Town Quay Marina, and the views across Southampton Water to the Hythe shore and the Fawley refinery provide a maritime industrial portrait environment specific to Southampton's role as Britain's primary passenger port. The West Quay and Ocean Village marina provide newer waterfront portrait settings with a more contemporary urban character.
Southampton Common — the 326-acre historic common immediately north of the city centre, with its Victorian avenue planting, the Hawthorns nature reserve, and the lakes — is the primary urban park portrait location in Southampton. The mature avenue trees on the Common Road and the Ornamental Ponds provide a formal green portrait setting within 10 minutes' walk of the city centre. The Common is at its best in spring (blossom and new leaf) and autumn (the plane and oak avenue colour); the open space also provides relatively uncrowded portrait conditions for early-morning sessions.
The New Forest National Park — ancient royal hunting forest created by William the Conqueror in 1079, covering 570 square miles of southern Hampshire — is one of England's most photographically rich forest landscapes. The ancient oak and beech woodland (Bolderwood, Mark Ash Wood, Frame Wood), the open heathland with its free-roaming New Forest ponies and cattle, the valley bogs, and the Forest villages (Burley, Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst, Beaulieu) provide portrait settings of extraordinary natural quality accessible from Southampton within 15 minutes of the city boundary. Extended Southampton portrait sessions regularly combine a city historic-architectural location with a New Forest woodland or heathland session.
The Test Valley — the pastoral chalk river valley running from the Hampshire Downs to Southampton Water through Romsey and Stockbridge — provides Hampshire's classic chalk-stream valley portrait setting. The crystal-clear water meadows of the Test (the finest chalk stream in England for trout fishing), the water mills, and the atmospheric medieval abbey of Romsey (one of the best-preserved Romanesque monastic churches in England) provide portrait settings of gentle Hampshire countryside character. Broadlands, the Palmerston/Mountbatten estate at Romsey, provides parkland portrait settings on the Test floodplain.
Hamble-le-Rice — the yachting village at the mouth of the Hamble River on Southampton Water — provides Southampton's most characterful coastal portrait setting. The Georgian and Victorian riverside buildings, the yacht moorings stretching upstream for a mile, and the Solent views from the foreshore combine to give Hamble a portrait character specific to Southampton's maritime culture. The Solent coast east from Hamble through Bursledon and Netley (Netley Abbey's ruined Cistercian nave is one of Hampshire's finest medieval ruins) to the Meon Valley coast provides varied Hampshire coastal portrait settings within 20 minutes of central Southampton.
£245
45 min
£395
90 min
£595
Half day
Yes — combining the Bargate or Old Town walls for the architectural urban element with a New Forest woodland or heathland session is one of my most popular Southampton extended session formats. The two environments are 15–20 minutes apart and provide a body of images with genuinely varied character from a single half-day booking.
Yes — Winchester is 15 miles from Southampton and I photograph regularly in and around Winchester Cathedral, the water meadows, and the Test Valley. Many Hampshire portrait commissions combine Southampton and Winchester locations within a single extended session.
Personal branding and professional headshots for Southampton's maritime, academic, and professional service sectors; family and couple portraits; editorial and creative sessions; actor and performer portfolios. Southampton's layered visual landscape — medieval walls, maritime waterfront, New Forest — provides excellent variety for any session type.
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