For Sky Bet’s start of football season campaign, I art directed a series of portraits featuring Sky Sports’ pundits Roy Keane, Micah Richards and Graeme Souness. The creative took cues from the character-driven portraiture of Vanity Fair, using considered styling, composition, lighting and set direction to bring out the personality of each pundit. The aim was to create a collection of images that felt editorial and culturally relevant, rather than typical tropes of the category.

Each portrait was developed around the individual’s character, allowing the photography to move away from conventional football imagery and feel more unexpected, expressive and recognisable. The resulting set was used across Sky Bet’s start-of-season campaign, with the portrait of Roy Keane subsequently commissioned for use as a FourFourTwo magazine cover.

Photography: Nick Eagle
Re-touching: Gary Roylance