9
Portraiture
Self Portrait
Edward S. Curtis
Portrait: Miss N
Gertrude Kasebier
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| Informal | |||||||
| Environmental | |||||||
| Camera Distance | |||||||
| Pupil Size | |||||||
| Exercises | |||||||
Formal: What constitutes a good portrait? First and foremost, it must show more than what a person looks like. It must show his or her personality—who the person really is. This portrait does just that. It is a 1902 photograph of a young, attractive, and sensual showgirl, Evelyn Nesbit. She is very much at ease, as we can see from her engaging facial expression and body position. She reveals herself to us as she is.
There is no single form or style of portraiture. Portraiture means individualism and as such means diversity, self-expression, private point of view. The most successful images seem to be those which exist on several planes at once and which reflect the fantasy and understanding of many.
Peter Bunnell
Nelson Mandela, 1994
Harrison Funk
This is a test print the photographer made to check the lighting on his subject before taking several additional photographs. Of the photos that were taken, he chose the test print. It had captured Mandela in a relaxed moment and with a natural-looking smile. The border around Mandela serves as a remnant frame that the photographer decided to keep as such. At another level, it can be seen as symbolic of the prison confinement he was subjected to for many years.
I think what makes a picture is a moment that is completely spontaneous and natural and unaffected by the photographer.
John Loengard
C.B. Neblette
David M. Spindel
In this full-body portrait, the man sits comfortably in a patterned chair that set off his formal dark attire. The camera position is slightly elevated, which has him looking up a bit. He is very much at ease, with legs crossed and hands occupied with a bowler hat and a cigar. The photo has a natural look to it.
First Couple
David A. Page
Informal: Here we have a full-body portrait of two people, former president Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn. Considerable planning went into this shot in preparation for their appearance on the Duke campus. The photographer had only a short time to take the photograph. The couple appears to be comfortable with each other and the photographer as he photographed them. Their facial expression and body positions are relaxed and the background provides a somewhat classical setting. It is interesting to compare the photograph of this married couple with that of Madame Curie and her husband in the Gestalt section of this book.
Lois Ann Arlidge
Richard D. Zakia
Although the lady in this image is formally dressed with a white hat, white gloves, white purse, the photograph is an informal outdoor portrait captured with natural light. She is positioned slightly off-center and the photo was taken slightly below eye level. (The photographer was shorter than the subject.) She has a natural engaging smile, with the left side of her face illuminated by sunlight and the right side in the shadow. The background has a rustic look and is slightly out of focus so as not to call attention to itself.
Alfred Stieglitz, 1915
Edward Steichen
Environmental: Lighting is very important in every kind of photography, and in a portrait of a man, it is often a strong light to emphasize manliness. This is not always the case, however, as we can see in the somewhat soft lighting on the Neblette and Curtis photograph. Steichen’s portrait of his friend Stieglitz taken at eye level has him looking straight at the viewer with his head slightly titled to the left and his right shoulder at an angle. This provides a more dramatic look. The photo was taken in Stieglitz’s New York gallery, as is evident from the out-of-focus background. The portrait is tightly cropped, which emphasizes the importance of the sitter.
Success in photography, portraiture especially, is dependent on being able to group those supreme instants which pass with the ticking of a clock, never to be duplicated—so light, balance—expression must be seen—felt as it were—in a flash the mechanics and technique being so perfected in one as to be absolutely automatic.
Edward Weston
Photo Pro Shop
Arnold Newman
Arnold Newman who specialized with environmental photographs used only available light for this photograph. He arranged his two subjects so that they were slightly off-center to the right. They are grouped in such a way as to form a classic triangle. The man in the white sweater provides a strong contrast for the woman in the black blouse. Their hands are resting to add to a relaxed posture. The couple is at ease and make good eye contact with the photographer and the viewer. Both project an engaging smile. The background provides a setting and is slightly out of focus so as not to compete with the couple.
I am always lining things up, measuring angles, even during this interview. I’m observing the way you sit and the way you fit into the composition of the space around you.
Arnold Newman
East Coast Fisherman
P.H. Emerson
In this early outdoor environmental portrait, the photographer positioned the three fishermen in the center of the frame looking off to the left as if waiting for a boat to arrive. The three of them form a triangular shape and the middle one, in a white sweater, contrasts strongly against the black surround. Part of the top of the fishermen’s shack is cut off, suggesting another triangular shape. There is great detail and information in the photograph, calling attention to the tools of their trade and the rugged outfits they wear.
I like things that have to do with what is real, elegant, well presented and without excessive style. In other words, just fine observation.
Elliott Erwitt
Portraits of Pam
David A. Page
Camera Distance: The most pleasing portraits are made when the photographer is a distance from the subject. In the example, above right, the photographer was more than 10 feet from Pam using a lens with an equivalent focal length of 150 mm for a 35mm camera. The camera was less than two feet from the front most portion of the subject on the left. A 28mm lens equivalent gave the same relative face width as the image on the right. Because a face is curved more horizontally than vertically, the face appears to be “longer.” The increased angle of view of the shorter lens makes the wall, which is at an angle to the subject, appear to “fall away faster.” Many professional portrait photographers use a 35mm camera lens equivalent of more than 200mm, which requires a camera-to-subject distance of more than 10 feet in order to flatten out the face and reduce the “nose effect.” A remote release allows the photographer the ability to be close to the subject for better communication and still allow for a camera-to-subject distance that creates a most pleasing portrait perspective.
Bride
Pupil Size: In this close-up portrait, the bride looks directly at the camera and viewer. The top part of her body leans slightly forward with her face resting comfortably in the palm of her left hand. Her wedding dress provides a white background that blends with the front part of her dress, calling attention to her upper body. The large pupil size of her eyes is a sign of excitement, research has shown. It is an automatic response. Some portraits are now Photoshopped so the pupils look larger to reflect interest.
Our brains are programmed to respond to eyes and faces, whether we are consciously aware of it or not.
Melissa Bateson
EXERCISES
Looking
1. James Van Der Zee (1886–1983) was an African American photographer who had a studio in Harlem and created portraits of African Americans of his time. He was affectionately called “The Picture Taking Man.”
2. Between 1920 and 1940, Nickolas Murray made over 10,000 portraits of movie stars and other celebrities. In this photograph, the movie star is positioned to the left of center with a prominent left shoulder, geometrically arranged arms, and a strong gaze at the viewer.
3. Compare the lighting and expression of Edward Curtis’s self-portrait with that of Nelson Mandela and Alfred Steiglitz.
4. Look at other photographs by Van Der Zee and Nickolas Murray as well as those by others such as Nadar, Arnold Newman, Yousuf Karsh, Judy Dater, Gordon Parks, and August Sander.
5. Comment on this profile portrait by Hugh Magnum, an early North Carolina traveling photographer. Make a statement about the lighting, the position of the woman within the frame, and the darkness around the eye area.
Photo 1. Future Expectations.
James Van Der Zee.
Photo 2. Swanson, 1922.
Nickolas Murray.
Photo 3. Penelope.
Hugh Magnum.
Photographing
1. Take a formal and informal photograph of the same person and compare them. Does one better portray his or her personality better than the other?
2. Pupil size is important in a portrait. Take a photograph of a friend and make a print. Then use Photoshop to increase the pupil size and make another print of the same size. Place the two prints side by side and ask friends which they prefer.
3. Using the same photograph, change the pupil size of only one eye and show it to friends to see if they detect that there is something strange with the portrait and notice the difference.
4. Take a photo of a friend and ask him or her to smile and then take one without the friend smiling. Which do you prefer? (It is difficult to fake a smile, as it is an automatic reflex requiring the involuntary contraction of muscles. To be able to successfully fake one requires much practice, as actors and politicians have discovered.)
5. Working in pairs, have one person be the photographer and the other the model. The photographer positions herself, ready to take a photograph of the model, who holds a piece of paper or pencil in his hand. When the model feels relaxed and ready to have his photo taken, he drops the paper or pencil. This is an exercise that Minor White used when he was teaching at R.I.T.
6. Try taking a self-portrait of yourself by looking into a mirror. In this way, you can study your expression before you click the shutter. The screen at the back of digital cameras allows you see the result immediately. To make your portrait, first adjust the zoom to include enough space around your image so aiming the camera is not critical. Use the maximum resolution, because you will crop the image later to remove anything you do not want in the final portrait. Portraits made using a mirror will be laterally reversed—that is, the left and right sides are switched. This can be corrected in an image-editing program by using the “flip horizontal” command.
Photo 4. Mirror Self Portrait.
Irving Pobboravsky