Classical Portraiture
Portraits are personal
Choosing to create a portrait is a very personal decision both for the person commissioning it and for the artist creating it. Speaking from the heart of more than five decades as a photographic artist, I feel that for a portrait to truly succeed it must capture a glimpse into the soul. It must reveal a genuine emotion from the subject and touch the viewer. Our everyday face is what we allow the world to see. But the soul is a rare and elusive creature which must be coaxed to appear. Tools alone can capture a mere likeness of a person, but it takes an artist and their skill to reach beyond a simple visage into the thoughts of the subject. The artist must create an atmosphere that feels safe and secure, one which nurtures an ambiance of peace. Only when safe and secure will the vulnerable be allowed to play. The studio, with all its lights, backgrounds, tripods, softboxes, is already an unfamiliar and somewhat intimidating place. The portraitist must be able to gently lead a person past all those distracting things into a mind space that encourages them, most of the time unknowingly, to venture past those distractions, disarm their inhabitions, and foster brief moments of unguardedness. Then!…then we, the viewer, can “see” them
For me, success is not found solely in the positional instructions and classical posing, but in seeing a soul emerge when my subject believes I am not watching. We are all a bit unsettled when we think someone is looking at us. A significant part of the art that makes me successful is creating in my subject a sense that I am not looking. Remote trigger in hand, I am wandering the studio in conversation, drawing out and getting to know my subject. Genuinely interested I ask about their life, loves and passions.
We all share a world in which visual imagery floods almost every waking moment. We are saturated with video, movies, advertising, magazines, blogs, vlogs, billboards, the stream is endless. So I ask you to consider this question. What is the difference between a “picture” and a portrait? We have all heard the ancient saying that a “picture” is worth a thousand words. In so much as a picture has the ability to convey more information at a glance then the time it would take to read a story, this is true. But allow me to repeat the question, what makes a portrait different than a mere picture.
We all put up walls to defend against the outside world. We expend enormous amounts of mental energy keeping them in place without even realizing it. Our inner selves will unexpectedly emerge, for however brief a time, when we weary of holding up our shield. When we exhale and set them down for a moment, then our soul is revealed. Here, Ron has relaxed for that brief moment. The depth of thought is evident in his eyes. I have chosen to use constant, or “hot” lights without strobes for sessions like this. It allows me to take the photograph without the jarring flash and pop of the studio strobe lights. I find this convinces the walls to come down a little easier. While it sounds a bit poetic, evidence proves it to be true. The eyes really are the windows of the soul. THIS… is what separates a likeness from a portrait.
Here is Ron who had never been a portrait subject before. He is in an unfamiliar place that was a bit overwhelming. Yet, by the time we were done, I had succeeded in disarming his anxieties and making a friend. So much so that I was ready when Ron drifted into this very brief moment of self-reflection and contemplation.
