About
25 years making images that have to look real.
Subnet Studio makes AI campaign photography and film for agencies and brands. It is directed by Grant Legassick, whose career runs through Hollywood VFX, commercial photography and the gallery.
Founder and creative director
Grant Legassick
Grant started in London, compositing feature films at MPC, where the job was to make impossible shots pass as real. In Cape Town he supervised VFX on commercials, then co-founded Frameworx, shooting and finishing campaigns for brands like Virgin Active, Wonderbra and Belmond.
Alongside the commercial work, his photography has been shown at Somerset House and the Science Museum, and toured to New York, Amsterdam and Athens. He holds an MA from Central Saint Martins.
That eye for light, skin and material is what AI imagery needs to hold up. He directs every Subnet project himself.
Career
2025 –
Founder and creative director, Subnet Studio
AI campaign photography and film for agencies and brands. Also founder of FORME Studio, which finishes architectural renders to photographic realism.
2014 – 2019
Founder, Rithm
Founded and ran a handmade men’s jewellery brand: design, manufacturing, photography, e-commerce and marketing. First-hand experience of what a product business needs from its pictures.
2010 – 2014
Co-founder and creative director, Frameworx, Cape Town
A full-service stills and VFX studio for brands, agencies and production companies. Grant led creative direction, photography and compositing for Virgin Active, Wonderbra, Belmond, Orient Express and Five Seasons Entertainment, with agencies including 99 Cents, Public Address and Catchlight.
2007 – 2010
VFX supervisor, Condor, Cape Town
Led the 2D visual effects department on commercials, from pre-production to final delivery, working with directors, producers and agency creatives.
2002 – 2006
Compositor, MPC London
Photoreal compositing on Batman Begins, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alexander and Alien vs Predator.
1999 – 2002
Compositor, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and Jellyfish Pictures, London
Visual effects for television, and Nike commercials from concept to final post.
Photography and art
Behind the camera, and on the gallery wall.
Commercial photography
- Fashion for Wonderbra
- Architecture and hospitality for Belmond
- Lifestyle, headshots and motion-capture photography for Virgin Active, Cape Town
- Sport: photographer to the Rajasthan Royals on their 2009 IPL tour in South Africa
- Plates for feature-film matte painting
Exhibited
- Somerset House, London
- The Science Museum, London
- Riflemaker Gallery, London
- FIX Photo Festival, Bargehouse, London
- Touring shows in London, New York, Amsterdam and Athens
Shortlisted
- Sony World Photography Awards, 2015
- Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize, 2015
- Lumen Prize, 2014
- National Open Art Competition, 2014
- Celeste Prize, 2014
- International Colour Awards, 2014 and 2012
How the studio works
- Directed, not generated
- Grant directs every project, and every frame is checked against the real product by a person before it reaches you.
- Our own tools
- The studio designs and builds its own production apps and pipelines, so the process bends to the brief, not the other way round.
- Small and remote
- Based in Ballito, South Africa, working with agencies and brands anywhere. You deal with the person directing the work.
Start the conversation
Talk to Grant.
Send the brief, even if it’s just an email. You’ll hear back within a working day.