Fitzpatrick, Alex - P.A.F. Response #2, The Portrait - ARTO250

            This section talks about the many ways of and theories of taking portraiture, both of others and of ourselves.  It mentions ways of adding significance and meaning to portraits and how to distill an image down to its core.  Most importantly it addresses the significance of calling a picture a portrait and the meaning that comes along with the title.

            Richard Avedon exemplifies, in the first essay, how to obtain a visual signature while creating portraits.  He uses elements of surprise, glamour, and wit in a unique combination all his own.

            The object of obscure desire essay talks about how portraiture reveals as much about the artist as it does about the subject.  Here we read about Jack Pierson’s work of 15 images of different men in different stages of life from small child to old man, none of which are of him, titled Self Portrait, and the ways in which we can construct identity in our work.

            Next we discuss video portraiture and the difference between capturing a moment in time and recording the passing of time.  Both have their time and place and the two have a mysterious relationship.

            The next essay is on Irving Penn and displays him as one of the best in the business at nurturing the subjects’ inner revelations.  Through lighting and framing and intentional backdrop choice/creation he is able to capture personality and duality of the sitters thoughts.  He believed that the portraits he created were not for the subject but for the viewer to be able to feel like they know the subject better after seeing the pictures he took.

            In A Photographer’s Lie we talk about the difference between baring our soul and asserting our ego.  How can we record our experience in life and remain true ourselves and still have a professional side to our work.  While for some these two may co-mingle nicely, they do not always and it is probably not wise to try and force them together because it can create a feeling of inflated importance.

            The last section, Embalming The American Dreamer, is about Katy Grannan and her ability to distill some type of experienced quality of a subject in her portraits through collaboration with the models.  By letting each individual inspire her in their own way she discovers a new little part of herself each time and so again the portraits become about both her and the subject.