Portraiture

A brief history and meaning of Portraiture

A Portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is effective. The intent is to portray the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. A Portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer. Portrait photography is a popular commercial industry all over the world. Many people enjoy having professionally made family Portraits to hang in their homes, or special Portraits to commemorate certain events. Since the dawn of photography, people have made Portraits.

Below is an example mood board of weird Portraits.

Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus was born in New York in 1923. She was an American photographer and writer noted for black-and-white square photographs of deviant and marginal people (dwarfs, giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers) or of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal.
Below is an example mood board of Diane Arbus' Portraits.

Objectively, in this image there is an extreme close-up of a woman that appears to be disconcerted about something. Subjectively, considering the time/era of 1923, women may not have had many rights. The woman appears to be dirty and ragged, maybe as a cause of the attitude and treatment towards women. This could set the mood of perseverance because it has pushed women to fight and to achieve equality. In my opinion, there is a high contrast of colours. And, due to the composition and the contrast of the image, the focus is centred around the woman's facial expression.

Wes Naman

Below is an example mood board of Wes Naman's Portraits.

Objectively, in this image there is a man that has been beaten up or has got into a fight. Subjectively, this image, and the look in the subject's face, brings to the forefront the problems in society, in this case, violence. This could set the mood of shock because most people may not be able to believe that someone would do that to anyone. There is a medium-high contrast between the subject and the background. And, due to the composition and colours of the image, the focused is centred around the subjects injuries.

Cindy Sherman

Cynthia Morris Sherman was born in New Jersey in 1954. She is an American photographer and film director, best known for her conceptual Portraits. Through a number of different series of works, she has sought to raise challenging and important questions about the role and representation of women in society, the media and the nature of the creation of art.

Below is an example mood board of Cindy's Portraits.

Objectively, in this image there is a woman walking in front of a tall building. Subjectively, considering the attitude of Cindy Sherman, in that she is trying to raise the representation of women in society, she has taken a low shot of the subject looking up. This could portray power and importance of women in society. This could set the mood of persistence because all through Cindy Sheerman's works she tries to challenge the 'norm' of society. There is a low-high contrast between the woman's clothes and the building in the background. And, due to the composition and perspective of the image, the focus is centred around the height of the subject.

My first Portrait attempts:

Here, I was experimenting with Portraits and what works well. I used Esther as a the subject because she has fair skin and a jaw line the photographs well. In the studio, I experimented with light and some of the effects you can create with it. Outside, against the  brick wall, I experimented with different positions and poses to see what looks good in shots.

Portraiture Photoshop
In photoshopping the Portraits we took, I change Esther's eyes colour from hazel to blue.