Elizabeth Holmes: A photographer's account of a Theranos photo shoot

Photographer Benjamin Rasmussen has recounted his 2015 experience photographing Elizabeth Holmes at Theranos headquarters in Palo Alto, California. The shoot was commissioned by Bloomberg Businessweek as Holmes attempted to respond to investigations by the Wall Street Journal regarding the health-tech company.

Rasmussen described a highly controlled environment managed by a PR team in crisis mode. Rather than the simple solo portraits requested, the team mandated group shots featuring only female scientists to project an image of collective effort. The photographer noted the difficulty of capturing a genuine likeness of Holmes due to the restrictive and performative nature of the session.