B_P_2015_04_

aPril 2015 Better PhotograPhy

47

“The head-and-

shoulders style

of portraiture

has been a

traditionally

powerful way of

imagemaking,

but these days,

it seems to be

more of a trend.”

Editorial

The Difficult Art of Portraiture

Often, I find myself struggling with portraiture. I admire photographers who can

simply walk up to their subject and make a portrait. While I am afraid of approaching

people, part of my hesitation stems from the desire to not disturb whatever it is that they

are doing, even if it is simply standing and staring into space. Besides that, I have this

inordinate fear that I will not be able to render someone’s personality accurately into a

photograph. And so, I was heartened to find a quote where Henri Cartier-Bresson speaks

about his struggles with portaiture, “The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to try and put your

camera between the skin of a person and his shirt.”

While I appreciate the head-and-shoulders style of portraiture, it seems far too direct to me, and these days,

it seems more of a trend than a method of artistic expression. Recently, I had the fortune of speaking to Richard

Kalvar, a Magnum photographer renowned for his uncanny ability to find humour on the streets and in the most

mundane of places. He was of the opinion that the National Geographic style of portaiture has kind of spoiled us

all. “I find those images to be something out of a catalogue. Undoubtedly, the Afghan Girl is a powerful portait, but

it is so because she has this ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ sort of shocked look, and also a bit of anger at the intrusion

of her space. However, most of the spin-offs today lack that sort of an insight.” It is this sort of trap that I wish to

avoid, and I hope that someday, I can make a portrait that truly captures the essence of a person.

Untitled

by Masoud Gharaei

Our upcoming issue will

feature the works of this

unique street photographer

from Iran

Find out how three free

photo editing apps can

help you convert your

images to B&W

Turn to page 52

Amit Mehra speaks

finding something

within nothingness

Turn to page 54

Cover photograph by

David Ingraham

Ambarin Afsar

[email protected] / Instagram: @batsaboutcats

As time passes by and you look at portraits, the people come back to

you like a silent echo. A photograph is a vestige of a face, a face in transit.

Henri CArTier-Bresson

Known as the father of photojournalism, Cartier-Bresson has inspired generations of photographers with not just his street

photography style, but also his photobooks, monographs and of course, the concept of The Decisive Moment.

Nirvair Singh