The Work Involved in Taking the Perfect Portrait

Portrait photography is again being scrutinized as an art form

. In one particular case, the artist's portraits are a reaction to the character of portraiture being traditionally confrontational. During his whole life of photographing portraits of individuals, he became sick and tired of the quick and careless way characterization is being done as a result of the smile please hold it thank you good bye technique.

He has an insight. Media portraiture, in particular, which has a large following and is widely perceived as cool, is, in reality, often ephemeral and vapid. The photographer gives the instruction, then the subjects do different gestures and poses in unexpected settings.

His solution to the banality common in this type of work has been to engage the sitter in a more extensive way. It took collaborative effort for the 13 portraits of people from Pittsburgh to be made. The sitter is allowed to make suggestions and even to choose where he or she is to be photographed. This is unlike what is usually seen in this profession.

He does not think ahead for any one project. The photograph is planned out in a preliminary meeting which is essential to the collaboration. Aided by the sitter, he begins looking for a site that would work perfectly for them. Sometimes a set is built, as in the portrait of another photographer, where a sheet steel and mirrored glass box creates a confined cell like architecture for the portrait.

One sculptor chose to be photographed with his own work, and a writer chose the scenario of the bar. The use of bridges in one particular shot was suggested, but it didn't produce a desired effect and actually came out weak compared to the sitter and his costume.

Creating lighting effects is an exceptional skill he shows in the photographs he takes. These effects were not put on the photograph during the processes of developing and printing. The spellbinding effects of color he makes are produced by combining colored gels with lighting equipment. The exposure times for these photographs are lengthy, almost Victorian, in duration. How long it takes to expose the nocturnal portrait of someone outside the bar is enough time to give the sitter to dodge in and out of the camera's range.

He could then bounce back into the camera's range and wave a wand of light in the air. There is hardly any indication of the presence people leaving or entering the bar which can be found on film during the exposure. Photographs that were taken in the garden of a factory indicate that what a picture usually needs is just simple and sensible lighting to work.

He is very professional about his work, even if he actually just studied photography on his own. Collaboration becomes a challenge for him because he seems to have this desire to dictate what he wants over his work. Of course, the final decisions have to be those of the artist, and this exhibition makes that clear. On show are reversal prints that have been printed professionally.

The Work Involved in Taking the Perfect Portrait

By: ericka64

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