Portraits

Self

I want to first start off by saying that I know very little about art concepts. The extent of my knowledge starts in middle school art class and ends in high school digital multimedia. I learned the basics of Photoshop, failing miserably with vectors in Illustrator. My learning of photography has been mostly self taught, taking a class in photography in college getting me started on the basics.

I wanted to learn how to capture an emotive reaction in people. But the big issue is when people know there is a camera around they get self aware. To see ourselves in a portrait, for us to be the subject, can break this suspense of imagination we all have about ourselves, becoming suddenly aware of all the flaws of ourselves. To be self critical. Portraits can be staged, some can be candid, but overall they capture something about a person. What I capture is almost always dictated by the situation and the portrait has the effect of showing just the reaction of the subject to the situation. I believe that we can project our own idea of the situation onto the expression of the subject in the portrait. We do this via empathy, allowing ourselves to imagine ourselves showing that expression and what would cause that reaction/expression for ourselves. Many times this projection evokes memories past or hopes for the future.

I enjoy taking portraits mainly because I get to project my own views of people onto them. I see beauty, I want to capture that. Blemishes, scars, and wrinkles can be removed. I get to take this mental image of a person and essentially show it to the world, clear of the blemishes. This isn't photojournalism, this is "art". Is it disingenuous to alter the appearance of someone and show it to the world? Is it disingenuous for the person in the portrait to like the altered version of themselves? Does this all contribute to negative self image?

Thoughts?