What is a portrait?

Learning goal

By looking at your own portraits, you will be able to tell that a portrait isn't only the accurate record of a face, but also carries that person's character and the relationship between them and the photographer. You will separate likeness, which shows a person's face recognizably, from character, which hints at what kind of person they are, and look for the clues that carry character into the frame, such as posture, hands, gaze and the telling detail. You will see how the distance, trust and decisions between the photographer and the person photographed seep into the portrait. You will learn that likeness also covers showing the person's skin as it is on screen and in print, while character must be looked for without squeezing a person into the mold of their skin, their job or their age.

The question

The bakery's master wants a photo for his daughter's wedding. Your friend stands him in front of the bakery's white wall, says "smile," and takes a few frames. The frames are sharp, the face is recognizable, the master is smiling. But when the master's daughter looks at the screen she shrugs: "It looks like my dad, but that isn't my dad." The same evening, though, when she sees a frame in which the master put down the dough for a moment and turned to your friend, her eyes fill with tears. Both frames show the same face. Why is a good portrait more than "it looks like them"?

Context

In the taster portrait lesson you saw why photographing people is hard and why it is rewarding, and that trust and consent are built before the shoot (Lesson 16.1). This track deepens that lesson in fourteen lessons: from the lens to light, from posing to group photography.

But all these tools serve one question: who is this person, and what does the photo say about them? A photo on an identity card also shows a face; still, no one hangs it on their wall. The frame kept for years in a family's album is often not the sharpest one, but the one that most brings that person back. Knowing what separates a portrait from a record of a face also decides on what basis you will make every technical decision in the rest of the track.

Simple explanation

Why isn't likeness enough?

Likeness is a portrait showing a person's face recognizably and accurately, with its proportions and colors. It is the foundation of a portrait and isn't to be belittled: a wide-angle lens that distorts a face, or a color setting that shows the person's skin lighter or grayer than it is, breaks the likeness. Especially with dark skin, automatic settings and beautifying filters can lighten the skin or erase its warmth; then the photo shows a face the person doesn't recognize as themselves. Likeness also covers being able to keep the skin's own color on screen and in print.

But likeness on its own doesn't make a portrait. An ID photo is also a likeness: the face appears straight on, in flat light and expressionless. This frame is enough to recognize a person but not enough to understand them. The master's daughter's shrug comes not from the face being wrong, but from the person behind that face not being in the frame.

How does character appear in a frame?

Character is the impression a photo gives the viewer of what kind of person someone is: patient or shy, playful, or tired but proud? Character appears not in a single expression, but in a series of clues: in posture, in what the hands are doing, in the direction of the gaze, in how the person stands in their own space. A single frame can't tell a person entirely; a portrait chooses one of that person's many states and presents it to the viewer.

A telling detail is a small element unique to a person that can hint at their character on its own: the oven burn mark on the master's floury forearm, the way he holds the dough as if holding a child, the habit of pushing his glasses up onto his forehead. These details aren't searched for, they are waited for; they usually emerge after the person relaxes and forgets the photographer. There is also a trap to watch for when looking for character: telling a person only through a ready-made mold tied to their skin, age or job. Showing a dark-skinned master only as a sweaty figure of labor isn't character but a cliché; character is looked for in what belongs to that person themselves.

Why does the relationship enter the frame?

A portrait relationship is the whole of the distance, trust and decisions between the photographer and the person photographed that is reflected in a portrait. When a person looks at the lens they are really looking at the photographer; in that gaze you can read whether they are looking at a stranger, an acquaintance, or someone they trust. The portrait of the same person taken with a photographer they are meeting for the first time and the one taken with someone they have known for years are often not the same.

The relationship also decides whom the photo belongs to. When the person can say how they want to look, can see the frames and can say so when they don't want a frame, the portrait turns into a decision two people make together. A face shot from a distance, without them knowing, can also be a likeness; but in that frame there isn't a relationship, only a distance.

The relationship doesn't always have to be warm and close. Some portraits are knowingly distant, formal or questioning; a photographer can also choose to remain a stranger to the person in front of them. What matters is that this distance is the photographer's conscious decision and that the person is aware of this decision. Asking which relationship will enter the frame also guides you when making communication, posing and light decisions in the track's next lessons.

Visual evidence

In the frame in front of the wall the master stands straight on, arms at his sides. The light is flat, the smile came on command, the eyes look somewhere a little above the lens. The camera's automatic color setting has lightened the face a little and taken away its warmth. The face is recognizable, but neither the master's work, nor his hands, nor the bond between him and your friend is in the frame.

The other frame is shot an hour later, inside the bakery. While the master is kneading dough your friend makes a joke; the master puts down the dough and turns to them, glasses on his forehead, floury forearms on the counter. The skin keeps its own color in the warm light of the oven's mouth. His gaze is turned not to the lens, but straight to your friend.

The daughter recognizes her father in the frame from the bakery. Likeness is in both frames; but character, the telling detail and the relationship enter the frame only inside the bakery, at the dough. Your friend shows both frames to the master too. Looking at the one in front of the wall the master says "it came out formal," and looking at the one from the bakery he laughs and chooses to give it to his daughter. The decision is made not by the photographer, but by the owner of the portrait.

Common mistakes

Summary

A good portrait is more than looking like someone, because beside the likeness that shows the face and skin accurately, it also carries that person's character and the relationship between them and the photographer. Character appears in posture, in the hands, in the gaze and in the telling detail unique to that person; the relationship, on the other hand, is read in trust, in distance and in the person's say over their own image.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will take two portraits of someone you know.

1. Shoot the person in front of a plain wall, straight on and in flat light; this is your likeness frame.
2. Talk with the same person for ten minutes about a job they love and, meanwhile, in their own space, shoot again, waiting for a telling detail.
3. Show both frames to the person, ask whether they find their skin and face right in their own eyes, and note in which one they recognize themselves.

Check yourself

• Is there a detail unique to that person in the frame you shot while talking?
• Is the person's skin in its own color in both frames?
• Did the person have a say about their own portrait?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. Why is an ID photo usually not considered a good portrait?

• A) Because the face isn't recognizable
• B) Because although it carries likeness, it doesn't carry character and relationship
• C) Because it isn't in color
• D) Because it is too sharp

2. Which of the following is an example of a telling detail?

• A) The brand of the person's shirt
• B) The empty wall in the top left corner of the frame
• C) The blurred lights in the background
• D) The oven burn mark on the master's forearm and the way he holds the dough

3. If an automatic setting lightens a dark skin and erases its warmth, what is broken?

• A) Likeness
• B) Only the composition
• C) Nothing, because the face is still recognizable
• D) Only the depth of field

4. Where is the portrait relationship read most?

• A) In the lens's focal length
• B) In the file size
• C) In the person's gaze and in their say over their own image
• D) In the color and texture of the background

Answers

1. B — An ID photo identifies the face but doesn't show who that person is or their bond with the photographer.
2. D — These details are unique to that person; a brand or an empty area doesn't tell a person.
3. A — Likeness also covers showing the skin's own color accurately.
4. C — The gaze gives away whom they are looking at; the say turns the portrait into a shared decision.

Summary card

• Portrait = likeness + character + relationship.
• Likeness also covers the skin's own color; check the automatic setting and the filter.
• Character appears in posture, hands, gaze and the telling detail.
• A cliché isn't character; wait for what is unique to that person.
• The relationship is read in the gaze; show the person the frames, get their say.

Bridge to the next lesson

To shoot the master closer, your friend moves their phone almost a hand's width from his face. The face on the screen turns strange: the nose has grown, the ears have disappeared, the master doesn't look like himself. The older member at the club takes a longish lens out of their bag and says, "step back a little, try with this." Why does the face look like itself again when you move away, and why does the background soften? Why is 85mm the portrait photographer's favorite? The next lesson talks about the portrait lens, facial proportion and the background.