This week we discussed portraiture going back to one of the early and most popular uses of photography (look at your passport photo). In photo history portraiture in photography highlighted one of the distinct advantages of photography over painting. We talked about some ways to improve our portraits such as watching our background. Some ways that is done is by choosing a simple, non-distracting background such as that used by Steve McCurry in his Afghan Girl or Sebastião Salgado in many of his pictures we looked at. More than anything building a relationship with subjects and putting them at ease is the biggest factor to having a good portrait.
With most of they people we photograph, it is likely that we already know them and have a tremendous advantage as opposed to going up to a perfect stranger and gaining their trust. In the case of famed photographer Annie Liebovitz who has become as much as a celebrity as many of her star subjects, we talked about the debate about her work being overproduced with her assistants doing much of the labor. However, she has built strong friendships with many of these people over decades in some cases, and as is evident from many of her photographs with no studio lighting from her very early days at Rolling Stone magazine, her photographs of her family and particularly her famous photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono before Lennon was killed, it is more about relationships, trust and how comfortable the person you are photograph is with you.
We also looked at "moments," taking a step back to Henri Cartier-Bresson's Decisive Moment where the peak of action is captured in a fraction of a second. As is the case with many of the types of portraits discussed, these candid situations are often best captured when your subject is comfortable, then they will be relaxed and able go on with their activity making it easier to photograph special moments in life. Finally we discussed the importance of watching the sidelines and paying attention to what is going on around. Looking for action and reaction away from the main subject is often make for more interesting pictures.
Some of the photographers we looked at this week were Diane Arbus, Sebastião Salgado, Mary Ellen Mark, Annie Leibovitz, James Nachtwey.