INTRODUCTION: THE CHANGING NATURE OF POSING

Just as the mythological Narcissus peered down into a pool of water and saw an image of himself as a youth whose beauty was dazzling, so the recipient of a fine portrait session sees his or her likeness similarly—idealized and beyond comparison. Although portraiture is an ancient art of capturing a likeness, it goes beyond that definition to include those characteristics unseen by the eye but experienced through the emotions. Qualities of strength, honesty, vulnerability, and character, are imparted in a portrait through the elements that define the art form, such as lighting, composition, and above all, posing. These characteristics are non-literal, unlike the length or shape of the nose or the width of the forehead.

Great portraiture has captivated viewers for centuries. Not for their literal qualities are great portraits beloved, but because of the stirrings of imagination they impart. Award-winning Australian photographer David Williams articulates his feelings upon seeing a captivating portrait by 19th century French artist Gustav Courtois of a beautiful young woman in a Chinese dressing gown against a textured gold background. “…She seduced me. I could imagine her laughter, her passion. Who was she? What were her thoughts, attitudes, tastes? What life did she have? How long did she live? So many questions… but then, in the nature of fine portraiture through the ages, there was an imagined rustle of fabric, a sense of perfume—the gentle brush past of long departed souls, and she was gone.”

The long wisp of hair, the off-center composition—everything about this image is compelling. David Williams made this portrait of his niece at 18, whom he describes as “a fresh beauty with a quiet and trusting innocence.” He titled the image, “My flying Heart.” Image made with Fuji FinePix S2 and Sigma EX APO 70–200mm f/2.8 lens with a single studio flash. Final print made through Epson Stylus Photo 1290 printer at 1440 dpi on English ‘Permajet’ Portrait Classic 300 gsm paper.

Gifted portrait photographers have the ability to create lasting images of people that are enjoyed by generations of viewers. Don Blair, a legendary portrait photographer, describes his portrait skills as an offshoot of his personality. “To me,” he says, “everyone is beautiful. It is my job to bring out that beauty and capture it.” He continues, “This pursuit … has for me been a lifelong obsession—an endless journey upon which I travel each working day. I hope it never ends!” In Blair’s carefully crafted portraits, one sees a nearly perfect moment frozen in time in which the person’s beauty and character are affectionately revealed.

David Williams takes this notion a step farther. “My recent photography of children done in a documentary style, demonstrates to me the power and duration of portraiture. What I have realized is that I am not making photographs just for the parents of a child. I have come to understand that we also make images for that child when [he or she] becomes an adult. When they look back at those images and see themselves as they were, they are looking for their parents when they were young. Such is the power and value of portraiture. Sadly, this is too often realized too late, and with much regret.”

Quinceañera is the Spanish name for a debutante. Literally, it means girl turning 15. In Miami, master photographer Robert Lino has made a full-time job out of photographing these young women at this special time in their lives. The poses are decidedly formal and “Old World,” honoring the great posing traditions of the past.

In the early years of photographic portraiture, posing was an absolute necessity. With extremely slow films and equally slow lenses and a lack of artificial light sources, time dictated long exposures. The headrest was the “immobilizer,” giving photographers the ability to record their subjects at long exposure times—several minutes long—without subject movement. But as Don Blair recalls, the poses were stiff and unnatural and the expressions ranged from “pained to grim.”

All that has changed by virtue of vastly improved technology that has allowed photographers to work freely and naturally and to record spontaneity in their portraits. But also gone is the almost rigid framework of poses that developed over the centuries. The way photographers reveal the human form has given way to a love of naturalness—unposed, softly lit and often without that delicate expertise that inspires the viewer’s imagination.

Today’s finest portrait photographers are, many times, also today’s finest wedding photographers; the two disciplines go hand in hand. Here, Australian Yervant Zanazanian has created a timeless wedding pose by eliminating all but the hand and smile of the bride. The sheer beauty found in the curl of the wrist and fingers holding the perfume bottle created an elegant, unforgettable image. The root of such elegance is knowledge of the formal rules of posing.

Australian photographer Giorgio Karayiannis is known as much for his design skills as for his award-winning photography. This amazing portrait, entitled “Tammy,” is a study in perfect symmetry. Every element has a matching and corresponding complementary element that is equally spaced. The only asymmetrical element in the image is the girl’s nose ring. Even her eyes, are absolutely identical. While the ideal in formal posing is to produce a visual state of asymmetry, here the opposite is decidedly effective.

Kelly demands more than a likeness of his portraits. He comments, “An artistic portrait should command attention, make an artistic statement or trigger an emotional response from the viewer.” He adds, “A fine art portrait transcends time. It goes far beyond the utilitarian uses of the subjects, the people portrayed.”

Tim Kelly is less concerned with capturing the literal features of his subjects. Instead, he will break the rules almost recklessly to uncover personality and mood—the heart of his subjects.

Decorated Australian wedding and portrait photographer Martin Schembri uses the Mona Lisa as his benchmark of portraiture, “…it is the essence of the person captured in a single expression.” While a Schembri portrait can be made classically or in a very informal style, he demands that the posing of all of his portraits be comfortable and natural (to the viewer) and that it not appear contrived. He offers this advice about making each portrait unique. “Ensure that your portraits are as individual as each person you photograph and never treat the exercise as one in which the technicalities rule.”

Fine portraiture is often seen as a story-telling device used to tell a tale of the human condition, using the portrait subject as the vehicle for a higher plane of communication. Even at its most basic level, the portrait is an ingenious story-telling device—whether it be the future of endless possibilities seen in a school girl’s hopeful gaze or the stoic grit of a soldier pictured in full military dress. The portrait is completely literal and yet it invites the imagination to probe and find deeper understanding and meaning.

David Williams, who is as articulate about the art of portraiture as he is a gifted portrait artist, recently summed up what great portraiture is all about. He said, “Our photography is about life. Is there a life force in the image?” The life force is the overpowering effect of portraiture that keeps “the affected” coming back for more. In great portraiture we rediscover what it is that makes us feel alive and great, both individually and collectively. And we rediscover what it is that makes us all human and vulnerable and what it is that makes us laugh and cry and feel connected to one another.

The great portrait has a tradition of classical elegance built on a system of posing, lighting and composition that goes back to the cave paintings of pre-civilization—the earliest rendered portraits. The greatest examples of fine portraiture exhibit a sense of simplicity, design and an orderliness that has come from generations of perfecting the craft. The most appealing aspect of portraiture, whether it is contemporary or from the 18th century, is that it can be all of these things or none of them. It can be homage or a completely new form or approach to capturing the human spirit. But what makes portraiture compelling for the ages is that we never cease redefining how we see ourselves. The portrait will always be a relevant contemporary art form. Like Narcissus, we never grow tired of seeing our own endless reflection.

I wish to thank all of the incredible photographers who helped me in the preparation of this book. Some, like Bill McIntosh, Don Blair and Monty Zucker, have been working portrait photographers for close to 60 years! Others, like David Williams and Martin Schembri, are relative new kids on the block and yet have managed to make significant contributions to a genre that includes the likes of Michaelangelo and DaVinci.