What makes it a Portrait ? :munch:

It's a planned photograph of a person or group of people. Of course in the colonies portraits of pets are popular too :D

Just adding of course it needn't be a photograph, it could be a painting drawing etc.

Ian

The depiction of a breathing creature, be it a human or an animal that captures the personality and other characteristics that describe that person such as the living environment and occupation. The more depth and sensitivity it has, the better portrait it is. A portrait usually focuses on the person or persons and personality, instead of the environment, scene or outer details and that makes it different from street photography, fashion or documentary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_resemblance

Please, not another "define this fuzzy concept" thread.

What makes it a Portrait ? :munch:


How about something (anything) 'portrayed' in a vertical frame as opposed to horizontal (landscape)? I like to keep it simple.

Never thought this would happen. Well done Sean!

... and you really started this one off with a doozy Donald! :D

A picture of something.

I have an extended project of photographing my boys in the environment (landscape). I consider them portraits, though they are as much about the landscape as they are about my boys.

Examples:

http://www.apug.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=32355&ppuser=17633

http://www.apug.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=32354&ppuser=17633

http://bostick-sullivan.invisionzone.com/index.php?automodule=gallery&req=si&img=74

Vaughn

PS...well, at least one of them is in portrait orientation...:p

The eyes have it...

Its when the photographer sublimates their ego for the sake of the subject.

The eyes have it...

or the lips

http://www.apug.org/gallery/data/2/000helen.jpg

I think a portrait must be consensual, that is, the subject knows they are being photographed and is participating in the process (even momentarily). A non-consensual photo of a person, to me, is a snapshot or a street photograph.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3171/2473345533_038b14f544.jpg

Its when the photographer sublimates their ego for the sake of the subject.

DING! DING!

I think a portrait must be consensual


DING! DING!

COOL picture !

I'll take what's behind door two!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2207/2509185261_e234e6e4e9_o.jpg

amazing eyes...

Hats off! Great work!

The best portraits are those where the neither the photographer. nor the sitter sublimate their ego, but find some common ground, and get to know each other. YMMV, of course, but that's my experience... I need to allow them a moment, and then they may offer me the gift of their expression, and I hope to find it precisely when it's offered...

I think a good portrait tells the story of a person...reveals something... even if they are not in the frame...

There is an annual portrait competition in Sydney called Head-On. This year one of the accepted portraits was of a stark, bare, empty room in a hospice (apart from the incongruous full length wallpaper on one wall of a chocolate box forest scene) where the photographer's grandfather had died. There was an interesting discussion about what makes a portrait during a floor talk I attended a few weeks ago. Sorry I don't have the answer! The organisers also said they had an interesting email exchange with one phtographer who insisted his insect "portraits" be considered.
I must admit as I went around the walls the first time it didn't register that there was no person in the photo. The power of caption and context.

The best portraits are those where the neither the photographer. nor the sitter sublimate their ego, but find some common ground, and get to know each other. YMMV, of course, but that's my experience... I need to allow them a moment, and then they may offer me the gift of their expression, and I hope to find it precisely when it's offered...

Suzanne, I completely agree. Being a brief part of someone's life and having to get to know them in such a short time is so incredibly rewarding. And when you find an image where you know you captured them perfectly...it's magical.


http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b214/jolynned/2-web2-1.jpg

i can't really put my finger on what a portrait is and isn't.
it seems that portraits capture the essence of a person.
it is the result of a dance the taker and subject do together -
(part theatre and part excavation) ...
there is a barrier we put up to keep people and life out,
a portrait sometimes reveals who is behind the barrier,
or who that person wishes was behind the barrier.

a portrait, or any artwork, is whatever the artist, the viewer or the artworld want it to be

A portrait is not necessarily a picture of just the person, environmental portraits and portraits in the third person (evidence of a person without actually being in the picture) add another interesting dimension worth exploring to the genre. Careful with the third person as this can often also be seen as a still life.

Vaughn, very nice! The tall timber country looks magical!

snip...
Vaughn, very nice! The tall timber country looks magical!

Thanks, Nicole, the redwoods are wonderous. The series not only reflects the growth of my boys, but also the growth of my relationship with them, their use of body language, how they relate to their dad's photography and our adventures together in the landscape. The series is growing along with all of us. I do feel the need to step it up a notch...just tossing the boys into the landscape is fun, but I don't just want to repeat myself. There are a lot of changes going on that I would like to incorperate into the imagery.

Vaughn