The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory portraits are a black and white photographic series revealing the faces and human dimension of the lab’s leading researchers. A visual tribute to the people behind scientific progress.
Giving a Face to Science
The idea for this portrait series was born from a simple observation: despite their essential role in society, scientists are often misunderstood — or reduced to caricatures. They’re portrayed as cold, eccentric, or detached. One evening, I told a friend in France that I was heading into New York to spend time with some scientist friends. His reaction? “Good luck.” That half-joking reply stuck with me.
It made me realize how deeply the stereotype runs. In popular culture, scientists are often seen as the villains behind disasters, or as emotionless minds trapped in formulas. But the ones I knew were curious, humble, generous — deeply human.
From Wild Landscapes to Human Stories
At the time, I was focused on wildlife and landscape photography — creating work for both publication and gallery exhibitions. But I began searching for a new direction. One that would bring me closer to people. I started experimenting with portraiture, inspired by the timeless black and white images of Yousuf Karsh, whose work reveals the dignity and inner light of his subjects.
That’s how The Human Face of Science began: a series of portraits of my scientist friends, photographed outside their labs, often with an object or gesture that hinted at who they were beyond their research. The goal wasn’t to highlight their academic achievements, but to capture the person behind the intellect.
The Project Finds Its Place
Word spread quickly. Within a few months, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory — where I already had personal ties — offered me a space on campus to continue the project. It started with PhD students and postdocs, but soon included professors, group leaders, and eventually the institute’s director. Everyone understood the spirit of the work and supported it enthusiastically.
The portraits even became part of a special exhibition organized by the lab during a fundraising event for donors. The message was simple, and powerful: when you give to science, you’re giving to people — not to buildings, but to the minds and hearts working inside them.
A Shift in Focus: The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Portraits
Soon after, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory asked me to apply the same black and white style to official portraits of visiting scientists — including Nobel and Lasker laureates invited to speak at their renowned symposiums. Unlike the original series, these portraits were made without personal objects or symbolic props. The focus was reduced to expression, presence, and light — a stripped-down language that still carried the same human depth.
Some of these images now hang on the walls of the institute. Silent portraits in public spaces. Faces that remind us that behind every discovery, every lecture, every breakthrough — stands a person.
This gallery is a tribute to them. To the joy of inquiry. To the quiet fire of curiosity. And to the human face of science.
