Hadassi Reuben's Portrait Study of Actor Raphael Luce

Drawing inspiration from Pre-Raphaelite paintings and the history of cinema, the London–born fine art and fashion photographer Hadassi Reuben translates identity into imagery. In her black-and-white photography, she pulls forward a subject’s ethereal attributes and envelopes individuals in scenes that support and enhance the sublime. These sensibilities suffuse her latest body of work with actor Raphael Luce, who deftly depicted a young Henry Creel in Stranger Things, and recently featured in Luc Besson’s atmospheric update to Dracula. In contrast to Luce’s previous high-fashion photo shoots, Reuben’s approach was minimal—a window inward.

“The shoot came together very organically,” Reuben tells Surface. “I had looked through a lot of his previous work. I wanted to go in the opposite direction. I wanted to strip everything back and photograph him simply, naturally, and intimately as himself rather than as a character.” They shot around the backstreets of Los Angeles. “I remember it was a blue day with the sun shining and all we could hear was the wind and birds. I put music on and let him walk. I got to speak to him, connect, let him move freely, and relax. Some of my favorite photographs are the quiet ones. Those are often the moments where someone’s real personality comes through.”

To prepare, Reuben pulls filmic references like the lighting and composition of Marnie. “I can be inspired by architecture, nature, music, or simply watching people, but cinema has always been one of my biggest influences. I love older films, especially Alfred Hitchcock and Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby. The women in those films are incredibly emotional—dynamic, soft, full of character—but also very strong and I love the way they tell stories through atmosphere rather than dialogue.”

From there, she begins. “Every portrait starts with a feeling. I want the photographs to feel cinematic, intimate, and timeless, almost like a still,” she says. “I want there to be a sense that there’s a story before the image and another one after it. I always ask myself, if this were the last photograph ever taken of this person, how would I want people to remember them? I’m interested in capturing the person’s soul.”

Luce approaches a photographic narrative as he would a film or television shoot. “In both cases, you’re creating a character. You’re asking yourself, ‘Who is this person?’” he tells Surface. “During a photoshoot, I love imagining who would wear these clothes, how they’d move, what their attitude would be, what kind of expression they’d have. Sometimes even the hair, the makeup, or the styling starts telling you who that person is. In film or TV, you spend weeks or months building one character and following their journey. In a photoshoot, you can become someone completely different with every outfit. It’s like acting in fast-forward.”

Similarly, his approach to collaboration begins with understanding what a director or photographer may want—and then delving into exploration. “I love trying to surprise people,” he adds. “Sometimes the best ideas are the ones nobody planned. I’ll give the photographer the poses and mood they’re looking for, but then I’ll start experimenting. Maybe it’s a different expression, a different posture, or just doing something unexpected. I think it’s always worth exploring because you never know what might end up being the shot everyone loves. I’d rather take a creative risk than play it safe. Even if something looks a little weird, that’s often where the interesting stuff happens.”

With the magnitude of Stranger Things, Luce’s depiction of Creel requires careful viewing. “There are a lot of things about Henry Creel that fans still don’t know,” he says. “It was actually really cool to discover more about him through Stranger Things: The First Shadow. I learned things about the character that I didn’t even know while I was playing him.” In fact, Luce didn’t know the entirety of who his character was for a long time. “The Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy kept everything incredibly secret. They never told me Henry’s full story or who he would become. I just trusted their direction and played the scenes one day at a time,” he adds. “It wasn’t until they tattooed ‘001’ on my wrist during filming that everything suddenly clicked. I remember thinking, ‘Wait… am I playing him?’ That was a pretty surreal moment.”

Luce values inspiration through observation—whether it’s “on social media, a magazine editorial, a film, a Pinterest board, or even someone I pass on the street.” Fashion Week, for the actor, remains the pinnacle. “I love seeing all the creativity that’s coming out and how different designers tell stories through clothes. I really admire what Pharrell has been doing at Louis Vuitton, what Dior continues to create, and the work of Wisdom K.”

For Reuben’s shoot with Luce, she explains, “styling was intentionally simple so nothing distracted from the emotion or the story. More than anything, I want my photographs to make people feel something.” Altogether, it’s a case study in the beauty, power, and mystery of portraiture.