skieur
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- May 14, 2007
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- Canada
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In the forums I am in, I find that even among the pros, there are so few people that have even a basic understanding of portraiture.
Some photographers seem to have a pretty large ego but seem to think that the subjects of their photos have no ego at all. No woman wants to look at a photo that shows that she is putting on weight, emphasizes her wrinkles, shows a scar or the results of acne, displays bags under her eyes, demonstrates the stress that she is under, makes her hair look flat and lifeless, makes her hands look ugly, shows the red in her eyes from being overtired, points out that she did not have braces or proper dental care when growing up, etc. No guy, wants a shot that emphasizes that he is losing his hair, is getting a paunch from too much beer, is developing jowls, has bags under his eyes, has bloodshot eyes etc. either.
I am amazed at the number of portrait photographers that excuse their lack of skill behind the camera and in postprocessing with the excuse that they are photographing the "natural, real person". That has never been the purpose of portrait photography. The objective among dedicated portrait photographers has always been to "flatter the subject". Photography has always been representational and the portrait photographer should be trying to get the best, most flattering representation of the subject.
"The eyes are the mirror to the soul" and that is where the focus of the viewer should be led by any excellent quality portrait shot. Any feature that distracts from this focus is a flaw and a weakness and it is the flaw and weakness of the photographer not the subject. It is the photographer who has let small ears, a wide face, wrinkles etc. distract the focus of the viewer and make the subject look less attractive than she truly is.
Some misogynists seem to forget that girls don't usually show up for graduation looking like they just got out of bed in the morning and no woman avoids makeup or dressing up in the interest of looking "natural" at an important interview or presentation. They want to look their best.
The role of the portrait photographer in both technique behind the camera and with lighting as well as postprocessing is to flatter the subject and that is not what is being done in many of the portraits that I see.
skieur
Some photographers seem to have a pretty large ego but seem to think that the subjects of their photos have no ego at all. No woman wants to look at a photo that shows that she is putting on weight, emphasizes her wrinkles, shows a scar or the results of acne, displays bags under her eyes, demonstrates the stress that she is under, makes her hair look flat and lifeless, makes her hands look ugly, shows the red in her eyes from being overtired, points out that she did not have braces or proper dental care when growing up, etc. No guy, wants a shot that emphasizes that he is losing his hair, is getting a paunch from too much beer, is developing jowls, has bags under his eyes, has bloodshot eyes etc. either.
I am amazed at the number of portrait photographers that excuse their lack of skill behind the camera and in postprocessing with the excuse that they are photographing the "natural, real person". That has never been the purpose of portrait photography. The objective among dedicated portrait photographers has always been to "flatter the subject". Photography has always been representational and the portrait photographer should be trying to get the best, most flattering representation of the subject.
"The eyes are the mirror to the soul" and that is where the focus of the viewer should be led by any excellent quality portrait shot. Any feature that distracts from this focus is a flaw and a weakness and it is the flaw and weakness of the photographer not the subject. It is the photographer who has let small ears, a wide face, wrinkles etc. distract the focus of the viewer and make the subject look less attractive than she truly is.
Some misogynists seem to forget that girls don't usually show up for graduation looking like they just got out of bed in the morning and no woman avoids makeup or dressing up in the interest of looking "natural" at an important interview or presentation. They want to look their best.
The role of the portrait photographer in both technique behind the camera and with lighting as well as postprocessing is to flatter the subject and that is not what is being done in many of the portraits that I see.
skieur