Alex May, b. 1987, London, U.K.

I am a portrait artist currently embarking on the early stages of my painting career. I've spent 15 years as a high-end retouch artist in London, using my Photoshop skills for advertising and editorial portraiture. I get to work one-on-one with many well-known faces, and I've had the good fortune of collaborating with renowned photographers on album covers, advertising campaigns, billboards, books, and other digital and print media.

Where the retouch artist excels by being invisible, the painter allows themselves to be present in the work, expressing far more about the sitter than a photograph possibly could. I appreciate the artist's ability to layer meaning and compassion onto the simple representation of a face, and I will forever be a student of that value.

In my personal time, I have been lucky to work on projects with outdoor adventurers, and have also produced art for charity auction. I currently live in the south of England with my wife and our two cats.