Each issue we'll devise an activity or assignment to provide some practice in an aspect of photography related to the feature article. We have three such activities here—seemingly simple, but offering very practical training for those who are serious. Assignment
#1: Working with a friend you should take
a full range of portraits: (a) tight on the face, (b)bust,
(c) waist up, (d) full figure. Take at least two variations of
each pose—one with the subject looking at the camera and another with
the subject looking elsewhere—perhaps a profile. For
each pose shoot one photo with the background in sharp focus
and one with
either a plain background or with the background out of focus.
You should not consider the activity complete until you have
shot about 16 different portraits. These are not be be studio
portraits where you can arrange the lighting, but photos shot
in the field with available light. Assignment
#2: Select a portrait you admire—it
could be something you've found on this website, on a link from
here,
or something you've found on your own. Preferably it should
be one shot in the field, as Lange's and Evans' were, rather
than in a studio. Once you have selected that image and studied
it closely, work with a friend to emulate the framing, the pose
and the lighting as closely as possible. Assignment #3: Make an unconventional portrait—perhaps one where the face of the subject is obscured or immaterial--but nevertheless the pose or manner would be recognized by the person's friends.
The image at the top of the right column was taken in an art gallery in New York in May 2007. It was unposed, but not exactly a "candid." I asked the model to walk or peer out from behind the large orange sculpture and got unusually lucky in my timing—notice the small open space underneath her foot. I did not plan it that way, but immediately recognized the significance of that small are of light before her foot was planted. All of the subject's friends recognized her immediately, yet it is only a passing likeness. More important, it is an excellent image. Conclusion: We
think it is important to experiment, to get away from the formal
high school graduation type of portrait or the too, too artifical
shots taken by portrait studios in almost every shopping mall. And
the most important thing, in our opinion, to remember when making
a portrait is that it does not have to be a good likeness. Your
aim should be to make a good photograph. If you would like to submit some of your images to the editors of this website, we'll select a few that illustrate the concept. One of our editors will probably make some comment--and we'll set up a means to enable others to do so as well on our Forums page (coming in a later issue). |
Some
additional examples:
These
are a few portraits I shot many years ago when I was trying
to learn the craft. The film was Tri-X and each exposure was made
at f/1.4 in ambient light, probably at 1/15 of a second and all
were handheld. I shot
two rolls of film—nearly 60 shots— mostly very tight.
The
pictures
were
taken at a
small dinner party, and the subjects were good friends. They were
aware I was taking pictures of them that evening,
but
as the wine flowed and the conversation turned contemplative or
humorous, they were often oblivious to what I was shooting.
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Here
is an image—very much unposed; in fact, the fellow was
watching the 2007 NFL draft on television and was essentially unaware
that I was shooting. His focus was on the draft [which is a slow-moving
affair] while mine was on him. It is a good likeness of him, although
he may
not consider it particularly flattering. Anyone who ever watched
the later rounds of the draft could identify with it. The unusual
angle was under my control, but the limited color palette was simply
fortitious.
