Portraiture

Portraiture 

Portraiture is the displaying of emotion, personality or expression of a person. Ever since the Camera originated, and before that with paintings, portraiture has been around. The first known 'light picture' or photograph was taken in 1839, by Robert Cornelius and began to become very popular in the mid 19'th century with the relatively low cost of daguerreotype, which reduced sitting time for the subject. Eventually it took over portrait painting, more people were having their photographs taken than pictures painted (due to the price, time and validity of photographs, compared to paintings). 

This meant that the world of portraiture became open to the middle, and lower-classes.  Before the only people to be able to have their portrait painted were usually very wealthy, famous or a leader in power. 

The validity and reflection of the subject (appearance, what surrounded him and his expression)  also differs between painting portraiture and photography portraiture. Even though both these art-forms can manipulate the truth to the subjects will, one can distort the truth even more; Henry VIII was a prime example through history - his tyrannical reign of 1509 - 1547 led to a large amount of paintings being taken of him. In the image above (a portrait painting of King Henry VIII) King Henry VIII is depicted elaborately, the extensive background, clothes and jewelry all add to the 'over the top' atmosphere in this picture. 

Henry is envisaged as a kind King - with his arm on a child's shoulder and his wife sitting contently by his side. Ironically, this is far from the truth, most people who have studied history would agree that he was a cruel tyrant. The background of the photo has been exaggerated and everything looks exactly how Henry VIII wanted. 

Photographic Portraiture has similar capabilities, but this can be more freely expressed in the photographer; and what he wants to achieve (without the possibility of his head being cut off). 
There are obviously boundaries and you can cater to the subjects wants, especially if you're being paid by them. However, it's a lot harder to manipulate/elaborate backgrounds and/or appearances - with modern technology and the invention of editing software this is still very possible, and commonly used.

American photographer Diane Arbus (1923-1971) was famous for her portraiture work especially in this case; the Matthaei family (shot to photo above - a member of the Matthaei family). Her technique was incredibly interesting; she not only captures the portraits of the people, but also captures in parallel her own inner thoughts and emotions. 

Arbus had famously said, “All families are creepy in a way,” from the telegenically cheerful Ozzie and Harriet to a young Brooklyn family on a Sunday stroll. This statement maybe reflects into her own past. Up until her suicide in 1979 Diane Arbus did a lot of work in portraiture, from famous to the average person. 

Even famous wartime photographer Tony Vaccaro became very interested in portraiture after WWII. He worked for many prestigious magazines such as Life, look and eventually Flair. His career has spanned over 6 decades and he has taken many photos of 20'th century famed people (above, he took the photo of pablo picasso). 

Vacarro used very clever techniques when it came to taking portrait photos. Instead of wanting them to pose, and getting them to do what he wanted, he used to feign that his camera was not working - this would allow the subject to drop their charade and be in raw form - then he would take the photo. This is a very clever way of getting the results he wanted, he did not want to show them off how they would like to be seen, rather how they are being seen in they're raw form. 

This gave a lot of power to portrait photographers, especially if they used these techniques. It gave different perspectives on the subject - this to me is very important. I'd much rather be looking at this photo of Picasso in his real form, like how he would have been if he was painting; instead of posing for glory or to "look good".

Portraiture photography has changed throughout the ages, with new technology and super fast printing - and/or digital media it allows photos to be seen, edited and put online nearly instantly. 

This allowed many people to take up an amateur stance on portraiture, without using the traditional formats. Social Media like Facebook & Twitter encourage portraits to be taken by everyone - your average mobile phone these days can shoot an adequate portrait. 

To conclude, photography is constantly changing. Like any art-form, new ideas are constantly flowing. This is seen just as much through photography as any other art form. In the future I am sure we'll witness new types and styles of portraiture.