2. What is Portraiture? “While it is impossible to obtain a clear understanding of a person’s complex character from a single stolen moment in time like a portrait, it is possible to convey something of a person’s character, as well as their attitudes and something about their ‘station in life.’ Others see the portrait as a story-telling device and it is evident that many of us see the contemporary portrait as a sort of time capsule, holding treasured totems of a time that may someday soon be lost.” Bill Hurter (Author and Photographer)
3. Inspiration Philippe Halsman More Halsman Churchill’s back faces the camera, “but at that time in history his bulk and his seemingly immovable quality described the man who was one of the world’s greatest leaders.” Revealing the depth of a person and an inner sense of that person is more in keeping with what the art of portraiture is capable of conveying. (J.J. Allen quoted by Bill Hurter)
4. Inspiration Monte Zucker “If you are emotionally connected with my subjects when you see their portraits, I feel that I have done my job.”
5. Inspiration Jason Lee Sure, his children are adorably cute in their own right, but that's not what makes his photos so interesting. It's when he puts his own spin on their everyday moments that we not only get to experience our own childhood again, we're able to see a father's pride shine through. (Alice on My Modern Met)
6. Basic Portrait Lighting “High key” (predominantly bright) “portraitpetals” by anitapatterson “Medium key” (mixture of light and dark) “Low key” (predominantly dark) “mami” by chilombiano Video Online Video File
7. Guidelines Focus on the subject’s personality Evoke emotion Use flattering lighting and posing Put your subject at ease through conversation, background music, etc. Usually the face is the compositional focus, but not always—it depends on the story you’re telling about the person Pay careful attention to focus, lighting, composition, setting, and props
9. Assignment By Friday, take portraits of 20-30 people (that works out to at least 5 each day) You cannot retouch the photos in any way Photos should reflect an emotion, personality trait, or story about the person that must speak for itself Use a variety of settings, poses, lighting set-ups, and styles
10. By Friday morning: Upload your best 2 portraits to the SemiPhotoFlickr group for peer/teacher evaluation Have all photos saved onto your USB drive in a folder called “Portraits”
