Saturday, March 10, 2012

Portrait Categories

In light of the fact I gave my students a walk on the first day of extended ed class ... (uggghhh, clears throat) I thought I would post a brief note on types of portraits.

Constructionist is when you put subjects together mostly to get an emotional response. The classic idea is the family portrait, but this concept is HEAVILY used in advertising. The perfect example is the Marlboro Man. This one for "Boating" is a great example.



Environmental, the style I am most partial to, involves putting people in their environment. Senior portraits and newspaper photos are examples of environmental portraits. The emphasis is on placing the subject in their surroundings to give context.


Candid is the most widely known portrait style. Trouble is, it's also the most abused and poorly done. Candid portraits are photos taken of a subject without their knowledge or their being posed. They are also the most difficult to execute. One of my favorite is called "The Kiss at Hotel D'Ville" by Doisneau. Candids are also rock concert images. This one is popular on Pinterest currently.



The last category is Creative. Creative involves manipulating an image to get a desired result or fantastical effect. In normal terms ... It's Photoshopped! But the results can be some pretty amazing work. One of my favorite things to do is to do what I call a composite image of shots.









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