Nuffield on Zoom

Nuffield College is a community of academics, graduate students and alumni in doing research in social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology.

The College decided to send a Christmas card to their alumni around the world that would mark an extraordinary year in its history. Given my obsession with Zoom portraits, I embraced the chance to show the transition of a physical academic institution to a newly virtual world. But the key for me was to convey a sense of the vibrant interpersonal energy that makes these collegiate communities dynamic centres of research and new ideas. The College was founded in the 1930s, so I wanted to work with the colour palette of that era: mossy green, dusty pink and (of course) Oxford blue. Listening to some Hercule Poirot radio plays helped get me in the right era....