John Rankin

John Rankin Waddell was born in 1966 and is known under his working name as Rankin. He is a British portrait and fashion photographer.

Rankin attended Thirsk school and sixth form collage. Whilst studying accounting at Brighton Polytechnic, he realized that his interests lay elsewhere and dropped out, taking up the study of photography at Barnfield College Luton and then London collage of printing. During this time, Rankin met Jefferson Hack, with whom he formed a working relationship. In 1992, the two decided to start a magazine together called Dazed and Confused after they graduated.

In December 2000 Rankin launched his own quarterly fashion magazine, Rank. He also publishes another magazine called, Another Man and more recently Hunger, biannual fashion and lifestyle magazine and website.

In addition, Rankin has donated his services to publicity campaigns for the charitable organisation Women’s Aid, providing photographs for use in the Whats it going to take? and Valentine’s Day campaigns

I like the way in which Rankin incorporates a sense of color and vibrancy within his photographs to add a fun and interesting vibe into his studio photographs. This is different and in my opinion more interesting than the typical studio photographs which have little expression and often are in black and white. Rankin ensures that within every photograph the model displays an interesting facial expression to create a story and a realistic view of their personality. The use of painting upon the face of the models brings a sense of individuality and creativity to reflect the unique personalities of the people. I believe Rankin’s photos are trying to portray the fact that we need to be different and its good to be unique. In a world of clones, Rankin has noticed this and is demonstrating how it should be through his photographs.