"You've Been Pooping All Wrong" - Portrait Session for a New Book
I’m always impressed with people who write a book, particularly when they have a full time job. Add to that being a physician and scientist at Harvard Medical School, 15 years as a medical journalist, “Ask a Doctor” columnist for the Washington Post, leading an NIH funded laboratory, and being the Director of the Institute for Gut-Brain Research at BIMDC – and you have Dr. Trisha Pasricha. Oh and she’s also appeared on CNN and multiple TV news outlets.
She wanted some images for her upcoming book, “You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong” being published in the Spring of 2026, as well as for her website, speaking engagements, etc.. This type of project is a very collaborative effort where we start with understanding her brand – from colors to her persona and vibe. From that we create a mood board, which is a collection of potential looks that reflect her brand – different backgrounds, lighting, poses, expressions, etc.. – we then select favorites which serve as a starting point for our session. It’s a great way to insure we have alignment for the shoot.
No surprise – the most successful sessions are one where there is strong collaboration and working with Dr. Pasricha was a joy! Energetic, creative, smart, kind, determined yet open to ideas, with a sense of humor, it’s not surprising that she is as successful as she is. In talking about her columnist role, she writes: “My goal is to empower readers with information to make the best decisions about their own health. I love injecting my own sense of humor into my columns and offering straight talk about “embarrassing” topics.”
We shot a variety of looks based on the work we did with the mood board selections – the images below are 2 of the final images. Note they convey a very different impression – one where approachability is the primary energy, the other a bit more serious and dramatic (also included is the book jacket for her upcoming book). You might imagine the first image being used with the book to match the more lighthearted nature of the cover. The other perhaps more suitable for accompanying a biography when speaking at a medical conference.
And am very much looking forward to reading her book – I’ve been paying more attention to my diet over the years and have definitely noticed correlations between what foods I eat, my energy level and weight, which I think also impacts mental and emotional states. But am very interested in what the science and Dr. Pasricha says.
