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Rangefinder
Magazine A Few Thoughts on Portraiture by David A. Williams “…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.”
There will always be a market for portraits of us smiling back at an imaginary ever-present audience, of us locked into a moment of happiness. Our very nature as (sometimes) social animals decrees this. We leave a record that is often powerful in the sense that it elicits a duplicate response from the viewer. A photographer friend of mine, Doug Spowart M.Photog. FAIPP, collects antique traditional family portraits. His motivation is as simple as it is philanthropic. “Professional portrait photography has always been expensive. The people loved and were once loved in return enough to be recorded for posterity,” Doug says. “That I have this precious image in my hands, this slice of time, means two things—that the subjects have passed away, and yet they live on and continue to provide an emotional connection with the viewer.”
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. Indeed, I will not do a session that just involves the child on his or her own. I have come to understand that we also make images for that child when he or she becomes an adult. When children 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 often realized too late, and with much regret. Having just viewed some of the portraits in the collection of the Gallery of New South Wales, I am surprised at the number of portraits, which by their very nature invite and absorb you into their gaze. These long-dead subjects rarely smile or laugh at you, and yet they live behind the paint.
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 seduced me. I could imagine her laughter, her passion. Who was she? What were her thoughts, attitudes and 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. Allow time for personal work. Allow studio time to explore that subject further. Resist the temptation to direct the subject; rather, suggest a feeling. Exploring subjects above and beyond the requirements of a standard portrait directly positively affects and elevates the quality of our work.
As I’m fond of quoting, “Our ability to produce similar work of good standing is what makes us professionals. It doesn’t make us artists.” “Repetition is the enemy of creativity.” That’s why you have to allow yourself to push the envelope. You have to allow yourself the time to be passionately involved in the images you make. Whether you sell the image or not is completely irrelevant. Very few situations in life allow you to get paid for study and learning—it’s almost always the other way around. Make portrait photographs that live. The following pages include notes on five award-winning images by David Williams from WPPI 2003.—Ed. David Williams, in 1992, achieved the very rare distinction of Associateship and Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (FRPS) on the same day. In 2001, he was awarded the Accolade of Highest Photographic Achievement (AHPA) from WPPI. “My flying Heart” “
So you’re the new boy, Eh?” Technical Information Technical Information
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