Portrait Photography
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Well that's the shout-shout bit that seems to be popular out of the way. Part of being English is a pathological reticence to blow one's own trumpet. But do have a look at my photographs and decide for yourself if there's something to be learned.
This is a personal approach to portraiture and particularly portrait photography, gleaned from countless hours of reading, and a degree in Literature, Philosophy & Psychology. It's compressed a lot, but should be useful if you explore each area independently.
Portrait photography aims to capture and communicate some aspect of a person's character. I think this shows itself in a few ways;
Habits - What we do often changes us; makes us. Whether this is Aristotle talking about excellence as a habit, or Warren Buffett urging graduates to develop the habits of success, they're an important part of who we are. If you exercise regularly, you get fit. If you eat well, you'll be healthy. Habits are hard to fake, because they have to be consistent in order to have much effect. Look at your subject; how have habits transformed them?
Decisions - Satre said that making no choice is still a choice. If I let my beard grow, it can either be a decision to do so, or an unconscious decision not to shave; so decisions can be active or passive. What about an afro? Or dreadlocks? Why bother? Ask them. A tattoo is a good example of a decision to pay attention to when making a portrait. It might indicate teenage rebellion, artistic expression or even affiliation with the Japanese underworld. It's a choice to permanently mark the body; so it's likely that some thought has gone into it. Is it a yearning to be different? Or to be the same?
Present Day - How are they presenting themselves to the world? Again, this can be intentional, like putting on a smart suit with finely polished shoes, or passive, when they are wearing clothes that were chosen ages ago. Again, chances are that they spent quite a bit of time choosing what they are wearing; at the shop and on the day. Steve Jobs had his iconic turtleneck sweaters with jeans, and Doctor Who has his bow-ties. Which identity have they bought (and bought into)? Somebody might think of themselves as belonging to a certain nationality, a subgroup or clan; but photographs are silent, and you'll want to look at the outward expressions of this in order to communicate this message. And you can always ask them about thing they're wearing; you'll be surprised by the answers you get.
Gesture - Make 'em laugh! I met the chap who photographed the Beatles and he talked about making people say 'cheese'. I'd thought this was just a quirky thing to say to break the tension, but the idea is that the mouth forms a smile when you say 'cheese'. This works better than telling someone to smile; but not by much. Mainly because expression isn't just in mouth; it's a product of a whole range of muscles in the face. Just ask the robot designers in Japan who are trying to replicate human emotions on an android's face! So the best way is to actually elicit emotions to create the gestures that you'd like to photograph. There are lots of ways to achieve this, but most need to be taught in person. It is worth noting that people are never just the face they show you; there's a whole host of different identities that make up their sense of who they are. It's just a matter of bringing them to the fore. Body language is also an incredibly revealing aspect of non-verbal communication. Every portrait photographer should have an awareness of different postures, and how they can help in reading a person. And of course, it's possible to pose a subject too. One part of Holistic Photography is a study of micro-expressions and how to see (and photograph them). Our faces will register emotions before we have time to control them. So you can photograph someone's 'real character' by eliciting these micro-expressions, and then capturing them in the photograph.
Form - One thing I didn't mention, partly because it's hard to avoid doing, is the 'flesh and blood'. Some people just have fascinating faces, topographically. It might be that their eyes are bright green. This is a rare and beautiful eye colour, so chances are other's reactions to it will have influenced their sense of self - rather like Kafka explores in Metamorphoses... Likewise, my ginger cousins have developed an identity around their red hair. People, unconsciously or otherwise, live up to these imposed identities. I'm 6'2". It's a number; my height. But does it mean more than that? Look for physical features that stand out. How are they restricted by their physical identity? And how are they empowered by it?
http://www.EnglishPhotographer.com - Portrait Photography.
http://www.HolisticPhotography.com - Holistic Photography