Most of us carry a camera everywhere we go. Our phones are full of moments — sunsets, birthdays, silly faces, children, pets, the everyday and the extraordinary. We share them, we post them, we play with the latest AI filters just to see what happens.

And then we move on.

Every so often, our phone surprises us — a memory reel pops up, set to music and suddenly we're laughing, or crying, or both. For a minute, we really see ourselves. 

And then we move on.

Glimpses is for the moment you don't move on from. It's a deeply personal photographic portrait — one authentic image, carefully designed and curated by you — that captures not just what you look like, but who you are, right now, in this chapter of your life. The background, the objects around you, the place you choose: everything is part of your story, not just the backdrop to it.

Unlike a standard portrait, nothing here is generic. You decide what belongs in the frame — the things, places and details that say something true about your life at this precise moment. The result is an authentic image of you with meaning: one that stops people, that makes them look twice, that tells them something real about you without a single word.

This is a photograph that isn't disposable. It captures a moment in time before it's forgotten and can be the ultimate gift for a loved one.

Why everyone should have a Glimpse

• For the young: It's a way to say "this is who I am becoming" — a marker of identity at a moment of change, long before the phone gallery memories start to blur together.
• For the busy and mid-life: It's a rare pause. Amid the thousands of quick, disposable photos we take, a Glimpse is the one that isn't disposable — a considered, honest record of a life in full swing.
• For grandparents and elders: It's a legacy. Not a snapshot, but a portrait that says something true to the people who'll treasure it long after — children, grandchildren, generations to come.
• For families: It's a way of preserving not just faces, but stories — the objects, places and details that mattered, before they're forgotten.

We take or fake thousands of photographs in a lifetime. Almost all of them fade into the scroll. A Glimpse is different — it's the one photograph designed to be kept, cherished, and passed on.

Everyone has a story worth capturing. What's yours?

Our Stories

Hannah

Hannah is an artist, an art teacher and, at the time of this glimpse, was a full-time mother to her young son. She had a small studio built in her garden to give her the privacy and solace she needed to create her best work.

John

John is a highly respected and successful entrepreneur with a track record of acquiring distressed companies, returning them to profitability and then selling them on. I worked with John to create a unique Monopoly board that illustrates some of the many successful acquisitions he has made. This glimpse is shot in his home office from where he works and manages many of his current businesses and investments.

Andrew

Andrew spent much of his working life in the City. He gave up this frantic life to become a spiritual adviser. He now uses his relationships, life and spiritual expertise to help others. Andrew curated this glimpse in the marital bedroom at his home surrounded by items that hint towards the contrasts in his past and present life.

Bec

Bec is a highly active comedian and, at the time of creating her glimpse, she had just completed an award-winning run at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival. A large part of her act at the time was the highly creative use of flip-charts and hand-cut-out animation. This is her 'behind the scenes' preparation in her Camden flat with her 'team' (co-writer and compiler) in the background.

Debbie

Debbie wanted her glimpse to show the many sides of her wonderful personality. This shoot was particularly fun and I took hundreds of images as Debbie changed from happy to sad, from sane to mad. It was delightful and I think this comes across in the final image.

Jayoon

Jayoon is an artist who, at the time of her glimpse, specialised in instant pen and ink drawings of everyday people. Her most well-known work at the time saw her take over the windows of Heal's department store in Tottenham Court Road, London, illustrating the passers-by directly onto the store windows. This glimpse was taken at a coffee shop where Jayoon spent much of her time thinking, creating and sketching.

Athena

Athena is a multi-talented and incredibly busy actor, writer and director. She has suffered from athetoid cerebral palsy since birth and uses a wheelchair for mobility. Athena very much wanted her glimpse to illustrate the way she works and the way her cerebral palsy forces her to work — with everything organised and close at hand but perhaps looking messy to the casual viewer. Athena chose the glamorous sequined gown for the glimpse and, if you look closely, you will see her much-loved pet cat modelling for us on the arm of the sofa.

Finn

Finn's parents wanted a glimpse of their child as he was at 7 years old — a very happy child surrounded by everything that he cherished at that time. As Finn has grown older, many of these toys and cuddlies have not moved on with him – this image is a moment in time when they were all together and Finn slept in a racing car bed.        

Tim

Tim was a key part of the BBC's Radio Effects team — continually experimenting on more innovative ways of making background sounds for radio plays. Once retired Tim created, produced and recorded online video shows about his local area, the environment and the arts. Tim's glimpse is of his creative space (garage) at home where he spends much of his time designing and making everything he needs to produce the shows — from backgrounds to camera dollies.

Paul

This is a photograph of Paul in his North London home studio where he worked. He was a second-generation Jewish immigrant and a true British eccentric. He was the 'founding father' of the British PR industry, an expert marketer, a proficient artist, a magistrate, a liberal activist and — in his own description — a 'Dream Conductor'. The book Paul is holding is one he wrote and published. It is open at the page showing his dear wife Mary who, at the time of this glimpse, was suffering from failing health.

Pheobe

Pheobe is a full-time model who I have worked with several times to build an attractive and gorgeous photographic portfolio. Pheobe wanted some shots without make-up that showed off who she is and her amazing personality. We are both extremely happy with the results.

Me

I'm Stephen Rush, and I've been a professional photographer for over 36 years, specialising in portraiture, fashion and advertising photography.

Photographing people has been both my profession and my personal passion for more than three decades. Glimpses is my opportunity to put you at the heart of the creative process — handing the design, styling and choice of location to the most important person in the room: YOU.

If you'd like to see more of my work, please visit my photographic website at stephenrush.co.uk.

Glimpses wasn't born out of commerciality. It was born out of passion.

If I could, I'd photograph everyone for free and enjoy every moment. Sadly, my bank balance wouldn't quite allow that! So I charge what I believe is a modest amount for something I hope you'll treasure for the rest of your life: a fabulous image of you.

And there's something else that I feel strongly about.

The image belongs to you.

Once your Glimpse have been created, I give you the copyright to your chosen image. You are then free to print it, reproduce it, share it or use it however you wish, without having to come back to me for permission.

That's my philosophy behind Glimpses.

It's not about creating photographs for me.

It's about creating an image that is unmistakably yours.

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