The Small History on Portrait Photography
When we enter a discussion of the history of portraiture, we need to understand that we are looking not only at what has come before, but also at trends that will be used again. An examination of portraiture over the past 2,000 years shows many ideas that are still used in photographic portraiture. We are not saying that the portraiture of the past is what we should do, but rather that the ideas and approaches important throughout history are still finding currency today.
From prehistoric times, humankind has used pictures to describe, communicate, remember, and celebrate. The portrait was a natural extension of these uses. As societies developed, important individuals soon became the subjects of pictures. During many periods, portraits were idealized to convey the importance rather than the reality of the person. Sculpture and bronze statues are among the best records of Western portraiture in the pre-Roman era. This record indicates that only the elite upper or ruling class had portraits commissioned. Many portraits were produced in Europe during the medieval period, but their relevance to photographic portraiture is more ideological than practical. For much of this period, the church dominated portraiture, and likenesses associated the portrayed individuals with God or the church rather than conveying their personas. Since the church served as the pre-eminent supporter of the arts, its dictums determined a great deal of the content and thus Medieval portraiture tended toward ecclesiastic subjects.
The Essay on Medieval Church History
Medieval Church History The Medieval period of the church was a time of growth and new understanding of the Christian faith. However this new birth of understanding did have disadvantages. Catholicism moved from focusing on God to helping to cleanse a nation of people. Inquisitions were used during the decline of the Roman Empire until the Spanish Inquisition's decline in the early 1800s. Both ...
We often consider the Renaissance as the height of photorealistic portrait painting. This period brought the use of perspective, light, and shadow to create a dramatic sense of depth and form. Most important from our point of view, the use of light effects in painting was pronounced and continues on today. In addition, the Renaissance painters brought great craft to portraiture, making the quality of the skin important. Renaissance painters used a concept called “sfumato” that created softness in their portraits. Sfumato comes from the overlay of varnishes and transparent oil paints used to soften the color transitions in facial tones. While highlights and shadows produced a feeling of volume in the paintings, sfumato softened the skin tones to make them appear more natural and pleasant. Today we can see these effects in photography, as some portrait studios have north light windows and often use soft boxes to create soft lighting.
Another technique from the Renaissance masters is “chiaroscuro”, which refers to a light-dark contrast that produces volume in the subject. Chiaroscuro is an angular light that creates the sense of volume through shadows. While most people think of portraits as two-dimensional representations, sculptures were often used to represent the likenesses of people. Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) utilized marble to create portraits. The three-dimensional nature of sculpture brings life to these stable pieces of polished stone.
Technology also became part of painting during the late Renaissance. While optic projections were common knowledge, at this time there is evidence that the camera obscura and mirrors were used to produce the paintings. The use of optical tools for painting can be regarded as a precursor to photography. As photographic technology progressed, particularly with the introduction of dry plates, photographers were able to move away from the staid portraiture that long exposures required. This also allowed them to leave the confines of the studio and/or the portable darkroom. With this freedom came both an expansion of the settings for portraits and wider approaches to using portraiture.
As photography matured in both technology and aesthetics, portraiture changed as well. One trend that emerged in the late 19th century was pictorialism. This photographic movement was fathered by individuals who left the formal societies to form the Brother-hood of the Linked Ring and later the Photo-Secession. These groups attracted some of the luminaries of photography, including
The Essay on Formal Analysis on Rachel Ruvigny Portrait by Anthony Van Dyke
There are actually two versions of Anthony van Dyck’s painting of the countess of Southampton; Anthony van Dyck, Rachel de Ruvigny, Countess of Southampton, ca. 1640, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (see fig. 1) and Anthony van Dyck, Rachel de Ruvigny, Countess of Southampton as ‘Fortune’, ca. 1638, Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge (see fig. 2). There have been discussions on ...
Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946), Edward Steichen (1879–1973), and Clarence White (1871–1925).
A critical attitude toward soft, romantic, and impressionistic photographs permeated this movement, with portraits returning to the dark, tightly focused images reminiscent of earlier times in portraiture.
Through publications such as Camera Work, portraits were given an equal footing with other photographic art. The effect was to give photographers more freedom to approach portraiture, which resulted in changes to settings, lighting, and the overall approach to the subjects.
Three photographers who were active well into the 20th century had a great impact on the direction of portraiture. First was Sir Cecil Beaton (1904–1980), who became the portraitist to British royals and celebrities. The second of these three major portraitists was Yousuf Karsh (1908–2002).
Karsh moved to Ottawa, Canada, and opened a studio there. Throughout his career, he was known for his large-format (8 x 10 inch) black-and-white photographs. The last of the three great mid-century portraitists was Arnold Newman (1918–2006).
Starting in the 1960s, he became known for environmental portraiture.
Crossing this period was the work of George Hurrell (1904–1992).
Hurrell went to work in Hollywood and made photographs of movie stars.
During the latter part of the 20th century in the United States, many working professional portraitists affected the look of the field. The sharing of images through publishing has been important to the development of portrait photography. Magazines like Professional Photographer and Rangefinder
in the United States and Professional Imagemaker in Europe have brought images to large numbers of photographers and have encouraged the sharing of style and technique.
Today we find that portrait painters borrow from the world of photographic arts. The makeup ideas of commercial photographers such as Douglas Dubler, the set and lighting concepts of Joyce Tenneson, and the posing concepts of Annie Liebovitz drive some contemporary approaches to portraiture. Fur-
The Essay on Ron Work Stage Portrait
Even when the stage was mine, even as I drank in the lights and the applause, reveled in the fancy footwork which was all my own, I guess I knew... and felt deep down that there would always be a dark portion of my heart which that spotlight could never reach. I can admit that now, though i'd deny this to myself then. has traveled to more than 31 countries and islands around the world, acquiring ...
thermore, the art world is absorbing diverse approaches to portraiture, as seen in the projects of Bettina Flitner. As Joyce Wilson said of the history of photographic portraiture, “There will always be something new.”
Works Consulted
Muybridge, Eadweard. “The History of Photography.” Pieces of Science. Online Learning Museum, n.d.
Web. 24 May 2013.
Popova, Maria. “The History of Photography Animated.” Brain Pickings. Mediatemple. n.d. Web.
24 May 2013.
Tolmachev, Ivan. “A History of Photography Part 1: The Beginning.” Photo Tuts+. Photodune,
15 Mar. 2010. Web. 25 May 2013.
