A History of Portraiture

Mackensie Archibald

History of Photography

October 15th, 2012

Portraiture, expressing people since photography was born

Before discussing what portraiture is and the history of it, what first needs to occur is to understand the true meaning of portraiture. Unlike several other areas of photography, portraiture is a personal experience. It is based on the interaction between the subject and photographer. Portrait photography is an act which involves both the photographer and the subject to reveal certain aspects or emotions about themselves. Through this type of photography it is easy gear the subject’s emotions into a single snap shot.

The history of portrait photography is a good place to start to see the different styles in which these images are used. There are pretty much two categories for portraiture either it is fine are or it is commercialized. The only true difference between these two is if the portrait is made for a specific client or for self-assignment. Even though the photographer controls both formal and informal portraits taking a candid image is different than a standard posed portrait. The method to candid portraits is simply relaxed and natural. There is another common portrait technique and that is an environmental portrait. For this type of portrait it is important to position your subject in an environment in which it reflects something about their true character or a trait of their personality. Those two can be either used in fine art or commercialized.

To start talking about portraiture in depth we must ponder what trends have been popular before. From there we can see what trends may also be used again. After researching the topic of portraiture over the past couple weeks, we can see repeated patterns which have been used in portraiture over and over again. From the dawn of civilization, as humans, we have used pictures to document, describe and commemorate particular events in our lives. As societies developed more and more there...