After searching across the internet to find a definitive description of portrait photography, I have come to the conclusion that this cannot exist in one definitive description.
As portrait photography and photography in general can be and is classed as a form of art, without getting into the classic philosophical debate about what is or isn't art, it could be said that there is no right or wrong in art as there is in for example, mathematics.
From this, if there is no definition of right or wrong, can there then be a specific definition of what is or isn't portraiture? It is surely open to interpretation, within reason?
Anyway, enough artspeak from me.
After looking on the internet, I have found a couple of really good definitions of portrait photography.
Definition 1 is from the digital photography review website.
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/31329321
"Portrait photography (also known as portraiture) is the capture by means of photography of the likeness of a person or a small group of people, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The objective is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. Like other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is the person's face, although the entire body and the background may be included. A portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the camera.
Unlike many other styles of photography, the subjects of portrait photography are non-professional models. Many family portraits and photographs that commemorate special occasions, such as graduations or weddings, are professionally produced and hang in private homes. Most portraits are not intended for public exhibition."
Fig-1
The definition of portrait photography in figure 1 is very much how I would try to define portrait photography if I was to explain it to someone.
However, I do not agree at all with the statement in the second paragraph that the subjects of portrait-photography are not professional models.
Throughout photography, images of professional models and famous people are always taken as portraits.
One of my favourite photographers and one that I have studied many years ago at college is David Bailey who is famous all around the world for his portraiture of celebrities and supermodels.
There are a 6 elements in the statement in Figure 1 that relate directly to my idea of insect-portraiture.
These are:
- The capture by means of photography of the likeness of a person or a small group of people.
- The face and its expression is predominant.
- The objective is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person.
- The focus of the photograph is the person's face, although the entire body and the background may be included
- A portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position.
- A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the camera.
Definition 2 is from the Photo Stack Exchange website.
http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/18566/what-is-the-definition-of-portrait-photography
Portrait photography produces pictures that capture the personality of a subject by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait picture might be artistic, or it might be clinical, as part of a medical study. Frequently, portraits are commissioned for special occasions, such as weddings or school events. Portraits can serve many purposes, from usage on a personal Web site to display in the lobby of a business.
One can find other more or less "official" definitions of portrait photography, but this one captures several aspects that are important to portrait photography (or to portraiture in the visual arts overall) which may not be explained in detail in a general-purpose dictionary.
A portrait:
- Captures the personality or essence of a subject. Not just a picture with a person in it. A "clinical" portrait might not attempt to reveal the soul of a person, but it still needs to capture something of that person's uniqueness — or else it's not a portrait.
- Is staged. While portraits can be candid, even those tend to have some intentionality. The lighting, backdrops, and poses are important, even if they are ad hoc. (Or maybe especially when they are.)
- Is commissioned. While this isn't necessary in a literal sense, in a larger sense portrait photographs aremade for the purpose. Someone — the subject, or the artist, or some organization — wants a portrayal of a certain person (or group of people). Even a street portrait of a stranger can fit, based on the photographer's intention.
By the very existence of the term "group portrait", clearly such a thing exists. One can also say "individual portrait", but generally the implication of the term alone is that a single person is portrayed. However, if there are multiple subjects — the grandmother and granddaughter, for example — the picture isn't automatically a portrait without some of the above.
A successful photograph of a grandmother and granddaughter might be thought of as two portraits in one: first, a portrait of the grandmother, showing her personality through her relationship to the child; second and simultaneously, a portrait of the granddaughter, showing her personality through her relationship with the older woman.
A lesser photograph might succeed at just one of these, being effectively a portrait of one person with the other person as a prop. Or, if the focus is on the activity of the two subjects, or on their surroundings, it's probably not really a portrait.
Fig-2.
Figure 2 is a much wider and more general description of portrait photography.
From the Oxford English Dictionary:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/portrait
The definition of portrait is given as:
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