I recently had the pleasure of working with the team at a new biotech company, Oruka Therapeutics. Oruka is “advancing novel biologics that aim to redefine the standard of care for patients with chronic skin diseases…..The investigational therapies we are developing are designed to offer patients suffering from chronic skin diseases the greatest possible freedom from their condition by achieving high rates of complete disease clearance with dosing as infrequently as once or twice a year..”

I feel so fortunate to be living here in Boston where biotech innovation is alive and well and thriving, and to have the opportunity to work with companies such as Oruka that are working on improving people’s health and lives. My wife has worked in biotech her entire career, and we often talk about not only the challenges of bringing new therapies to market, but also the impact they have on people’s lives.

We wanted to show the executive team as competent, confident with approachabity – of the various elements that make great headshots, the smile/expression is the most important element. Too much energy and it doesn’t reflect the gravity of the work being done – too little energy and the images/impression looks lackluster. Some people look better/more natural when smiling with teeth, others without – and that’s fine, even a good thing as we still want to show them as individuals, even though they’re part of a team. We used lighting that works great with all different skin types, and also enhances people’s overall look and energy. The background color/brightness we chose also meshes well with their new website.

We shot on location at their Waltham offices, in one of those restored mill type buildings next to the river (love the charm of those building with brick walls and high ceilings!). As Oruka is hiring, new hires can come to my Wellesley studio to have their headshots done, and the look will be consistent with the existing shots.

Looking forward to continuing to work with Oruka as they hire, and more importantly to following their progress in helping transform people’s lives!