I’ve been into photography for just over twenty years now, and within that span of time, I have tried my hand at a variety of genres of photography. From landscape photography, to street, to concerts, to food and product photography, I’ve tried, and enjoyed many disciplines of the art. And while I still do engage in some of those genres, I have found portrait photography to be the most rewarding.
Joel, from a headshot session for his modeling portfolio in 2021.
In building my portfolio (and honing my craft) as a portrait photographer, I did a lot of headshots and glamor photos for local models and actors on a TFP (“Time For Print”) basis, where we exchanged each others time and effort for mutual usage of the images for our respective portfolios. I still do some of these TFP shoots, usually when I’m looking to test a new lighting idea or the model has an interesting creative idea or project they’d like to collaborate on.
While I’ve always found the process of producing a well-composed, perfectly exposed image very rewarding in itself, for some reason, the reward of creating a well-executed portrait of another human being is one of the best. From the technical aspects of composition, to color, to sharpness, lighting, and even the tone and texture of a person’s skin - capturing all of that in a portrait where it all works together has satisfied me in way that no other genre has yet. But above the technical part, above the satisfaction of getting everything right, is the reward of capturing the ‘real” person.
Obviously, as the photographer, my point of view is subjective, and I have only just met my subject, as my knowledge of who they are is limited to whatever I learn in the short conversation before we begin, and the banter we engage in during the shoot. I also see them from the an aesthetic point of view, like the shape of their face , their smile, or if they remind me of someone famous or a subject from classical art. Either way, any, or all, of this informs me on how I’m going to capture my subject, both aesthetically and in how we’re going to pose or use colors, etc.
And again, while my view of my subject is entirely my point of view, I still have to capture something about that person that is true, or real. Be it a slight expression, maybe I snapped off a shot while they were caught in a pensive moment, or maybe they were really getting into the shoot and gave me their best version of themselves, on their best day. Whatever it is, and whether or not I personally like the image, or that I captured what I thought (with my limited knowledge of the person) was the “truth” of the subject - when it really resonates with the subject, when that version of themselves resonates with something deep inside of them, that’s when I know I’ve properly done my job, and that’s when I get the reward I crave.
That’s why I do what I do. That’s why I have a passion for portraits. Sure, I can do a lot of other genres of photography (some of them quite well, I might ad..), but none give me that same sense of reward and satisfaction.