100 DIGITAL CAMERA^ FEBRUARY 2022 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
our new book Face Time
looks at the history of
portraits. Why has the
portrait endured, and
proven so popular?
When I started writing the
book, and when I started working at
the National Portrait Gallery in London,
I didn’t realise quite how central and
captivating portraiture was. It hits on
something fundamental about human
character and how we interact. The
reason portraiture continues to endure
for photographers is that it hits on
some of the biggest questions a
photographer can ever engage with.There’s no doubt that people like
Marilyn Monroe and Barack Obama
have their own presence and character.
But I believe every human being has
a special essence, and a photographer
can excavate that.
That’s an extraordinary thing, when
you think of the billions of people who
are on this planet. A photographer can
bring them to life and show what’s
special about them, even people
you’ve never heard of.How do you define a portrait?
I don’t define a portrait. It’s much
more to do with the intentions of the
photographer. If they’re trying to
capture something essential about
human nature or the qualities of
another human being, then, for me, it’s
portraiture. It doesn’t matter if it’s a
traditional head and shoulders studio
pose or they’re just showing a single
body part. One thing that’s so exciting
about portraiture is the creativity with
which people go about it.How have portraits changed
over the course of history?
There are some instincts that have
been consistent from the very start.
Almost as soon as photography was
invented, you have photographers
making things that look like selfies,
and you carry that through to the 20th
century, when everyone and their uncle
is making selfies. There’s something
about wanting to represent yourself in
the world, wanting to represent othersPHILLIP PRODGER
The curator, art historian
and author on photo
portraits and their takers
Behind
the lens
Y
in the world, and trying to achieve
understanding through photography,
which is consistent over time.
The technology and culture has
changed. The aspirations of the
photographer may not be exactly the
same as they were in the 1840s and
the 1850s, but it’s wonderful to see
photographers then struggling with
some of the same issues they
struggle with today.What makes a portrait successful?
It’s a bit of a mystery. I have a good
camera in my iPhone and I can take
pictures of others, but they don’t come
out nearly half as good as the photos in
this book. That’s the enigma that draws
people into portrait photography.
I don’t know how to define it, but
there are certainly photographs that
hint at something more than what
you see, something beyond the mere
physical appearance of the individual;
not just mapping the face, but getting
at someone’s essence. There’s
something that leads you beyond
what you actually see in the frame:
something psychological, human,
intangible, but powerful nevertheless.What advice would you give
to portrait photographers?
To think about what is real in the
situation you’re engaged in. What is
it that you as the photographer are
feeling? What does the person you’re
photographing represent? Who are
they? And then try to do somethingLEFT: Katy Grannan, ‘Anonymous’,
Oakland, California, 2011.ABOVE: Weronika Gesicka, ‘Untitled
#32’, 2016, from the Tr a c e s series.Weronika Gęsicka and Jednostka GalleryKaty Grannan; courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco