Portrait Photography
‘A face devoid of love or grace,
A hateful, hard, successful face,
A face with which a stone
Would feel as thoroughly at ease
As were they old acquaintances,–?
First time together thrown. — “A Portrait” by Emily Dickinson
There is a famous portrait photographer called Elsa Dorfman, she is a master at capturing the ‘real’ person in her photos. A great skill when preparing for a portrait shoot is to follow her procedures. It all comes down to research, she investigates people, from their likes and dislikes down to the finer, detailed manerisms. She envokes an emotion from the viewers about the subject that is so true and connected, that many marvel at her envolved portrayal. Her curiousity of the subject takes her on a ploted search for their passions which she moulds into an expression, act or position, therefore capturing their essence. She tends to know more about her subject by the end of a session than their closest family member.
Elsa’s success definitely stems from her love and curiousity of people. Tip 2 is, if you do not have this curiousity for people than it is best to leave this profession alone. Elsa uses a 20×24″ Polaroid camera.