Frederic Aranda is a self-taught portrait photographer with a career spanning two decades. The Swiss-born photographer received his BA in Japanese Studies from Oxford University in addition to study at Waseda University and work as an interpreter at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo. He is now an Ambassador and Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. In 2018, Aranda won a Swiss Photo Award for his group portraits and in 2023 won First Prize in the International Portrait Photographer of the Year for his character study of Ian McKellen as Mother Goose. He was a Finalist in the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery, a two-time finalist in the Sony World Photo Awards and a finalist in the Lensculture Portrait Awards. He is also a four-time winner of OpenWalls Arles and a three-time winner of Portrait of Britain and the International Photography Awards. Aranda lives in London and works internationally. He speaks English, French and Japanese.
According to the BBC, "Aranda's portraiture aims to communicate the subject's humanity and strength. It's earned him a place as a favourite for top brands such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and Harper's Bazaar." He is well known for his collaborative and inclusive approach to portraiture and for giving his subjects agency in the way they are photographed. He is particularly known for his group portraits. The British Journal of Photography recently wrote that "Aranda strives to reshape hierarchy, creating balanced images that feel democratic, communal, and human."
In his recent project 'This Used to be my Playground', Aranda was commissioned by Burberry and Esquire to photograph Marcus Rashford in the studio. On the morning of the shoot both Aranda and Rashford decided on a more personal setting and moved to Button Lane Primary School in Manchester where the sportsman first discovered his love of football as a child. Another project, 'Vogue House', is a series of collaborative group portraits of The House of Gorgeous Gucci, bringing together international members of a well known voguing House the night before a Paris Ball. Originally meant as a personal project and styled by Kiddy Smile and the House members themselves, the shoot garnered international praise for its self-styled authenticity and powerful depiction of chosen family in the LGBTQIA+ community.
Aranda's photographs have been exhibited internationally, including at the National Portrait Gallery; The Imperial War Museum; the Victoria and Albert Museum; the Royal Photographic Society; UNESCO; Opera Gallery London; the National Gallery of Bulgaria; and the Preus Museum in Norway. His work has been the subject of several monographs and is included in public and private collections worldwide.
