October 26 2009
REFLECTION On the limits of the portrait Here is one image from a most engaging series of portraits in the Guardian - Called the complete Jane Brown: a lifetime in photographs Well worth a look. Lately I’ve been thinking that most portraits work because we ‘know’ the subject which is perhaps why the ‘famous’ are so often the subject. Notice how you look for the subjects name when a subject is unfamiliar. Articulate ‘subject known’ portraits seem to convey a specific mood or  complexity of this ‘known subject’. Outside of the famous we are mostly in the field of archetypes or stereotypes such as loving mother, old age (aagghh), mischievous person, ethnic costume wearer or maybe mischievous,old, ethnic grandmother. On the other hand environmental portraits can bring in more elements such as yesterdays post from Paolo Woods on which a whole book could (should) be written. In a way the subject (fairly or not) is made known. In between the individual portrait and the environmental portrait the little group images in the last 2 of my Kashgar images hopefully tell a story through the relationships portrayed and the context. ……as a postscript I just found this in the comments on TOP from where the link to Jane Brown came  ..”I remember reading some time ago that it was two OM1 bodies, one with a 50mm and one with (I think) an 85mm. More significant, to my mind, was that she carried them around in a shopping basket. A small unobtrusive middle aged woman with a shopping basket can pretty much get in anywhere…”

REFLECTION On the limits of the portrait

Here is one image from a most engaging series of portraits in the Guardian - Called the complete Jane Brown: a lifetime in photographs Well worth a look.

Lately I’ve been thinking that most portraits work because we ‘know’ the subject which is perhaps why the ‘famous’ are so often the subject. Notice how you look for the subjects name when a subject is unfamiliar. Articulate ‘subject known’ portraits seem to convey a specific mood or  complexity of this ‘known subject’. Outside of the famous we are mostly in the field of archetypes or stereotypes such as loving mother, old age (aagghh), mischievous person, ethnic costume wearer or maybe mischievous,old, ethnic grandmother. On the other hand environmental portraits can bring in more elements such as yesterdays post from Paolo Woods on which a whole book could (should) be written. In a way the subject (fairly or not) is made known.

In between the individual portrait and the environmental portrait the little group images in the last 2 of my Kashgar images hopefully tell a story through the relationships portrayed and the context.

……as a postscript I just found this in the comments on TOP from where the link to Jane Brown came  ..”I remember reading some time ago that it was two OM1 bodies, one with a 50mm and one with (I think) an 85mm. More significant, to my mind, was that she carried them around in a shopping basket. A small unobtrusive middle aged woman with a shopping basket can pretty much get in anywhere…”



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About

A photography blog by Robert van Koesveld around learning to see as a photographer: with my own images and process as well as whatever I think inspires, informs, extends or challenges in the struggle to learn to see. There are two supplementary blogs; LTS2 for photography and LTS3 for other Art. The links are at the top above this. They are a place to display others work that I find inspirational and that I want to refer back to. Comments are welcome use 'click to comment' or email me here:

{robert@learningtosee.net.au}

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my own image sets posted previously

auDesert (mali-festival) ... bike(bikes)

city (cityscapes) ... creature (animals)

DOL (dance of life)... elemental (b&w)

inChina (china)... kashgar (portraits)

land (landscapes)... LOE (life on earth)

maker (artists)... market (markets)

paris(paris)... presence (portraits)

REAL (namibia)... related (portraits)

sydney sets (city)... theBUSH (plants)

tree (landscapes)... vital (plants)

all my black & white

inspirations

days with my father - phillip toledano

tribes - peter gasser

innocence - duckrabbit

the places we live

travelography

Jehad Nga Photography

blogs I am following

the travel photographer

the luminous landscape

politics theory & photography

duckrabbit

prison photography

the spinning head

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