Capturing a Moment A portrait reflects our style, the moment, the character of the subject and many other implications about the relationships between all the elements in the picture. The background, scale, and lighting all contribute to the complexity, creating an interesting circumstance. Later, the subject confronts all that they couldn’t see from their side of the camera, while the photographer reflects on the opportunities captured and missed, the potential for the next experience, and celebrates what’s there. The portrait is a moment, a memory and a reflection of the time a person spent with a photographer. Keeley discussed the idea of “emotional likeness” with photographer Everard Williams, who made this expressive image. Photo by Everard Williams I believe that a portrait should be a contract with your subject. I can’t make a picture of someone that reveals some connection without their permission and cooperation. I must assist and lead them to a place in front of my camera that allows that experience to happen. I want a moment to happen like jazz: Imagine a traditional song, and suddenly there’s improvisation and a new idea is heard in an unexpected place. Portraits offer that to us every day. We have to practice, practice, practice, because when it happens you want to be ready. As photographers, these responsibilities belong to us. We must ask questions about our craft, our intentions and our results. We must practice and criticize our work as practitioners, as artists, observers and participants in popular culture. Our portraits cry for intelligent form, poetic offering and a likeness of our subject that reveals something beneath the surface. The Teacher as Subject I proposed this article months ago and found it to be one of the most perplexing subjects I’ve ever tackled. My breakthrough came when I had to have my own portrait made. As I pondered what I require from a photograph of myself, I came to the realization that I could remain honest, objective and focused, and that I could probably tell a story of an emotional likeness in a first-person circumstance better than trying shoot it. I began with what would be the clear expectation of this portrait. It would be about me, it would be interesting and include some complication, distraction and an entertaining visual component. The person who made it would have free rein to create a story about me in their own style, a document that symbolized my presence or transcended the human frailties and facial irregularities and replaced them with an emotional likeness. I also decided to cooperate with whatever plan they proposed and to assist with facial or emotional direction. I learned much from this experience. I am not an actor. I also made a self-portrait to see if I would have a better idea of how to construct this kind of document without outside interpretation. I want to thank Everard Williams, Deborah Hart, Mark Berndt and Josh Sanseri for their assistance, talent and conversation about all this. Keeley’s self-portrait, created with a pinhole camera. Photo by Dennis Keeley The Whole Person If I’ve convinced you that the attempt to create an emotional, physiological or—God forbid—a spiritual portrait is preferable and is possible, how do we go about making such a document? An emotional likeness starts with physical likeness, but implies more about the condition of the portrait, the circumstance and the conversation, attitude and soul of the object. It may not be recognized by everyone, as poetry, classical music, or even popular music is not for everyone. It’s a courageous act to make things. Everyone has an opinion—portraits should be about yours. Portraits are a part of a photographer’s practice. While everyone does them differently, there are some rules, but perhaps not about the elements you might consider. Your job is not to make fat people look thin or the thin look healthy. Emotional likeness is like making a horse look like a great horse or a Mini Cooper look as formidable as a Hummer. It all starts with looking and seeing on your part. Look at the whole person: The shape of his/her head, hair, skin tone and clothing. Search for any symmetry or balance, or for strong features. After the physical characteristics, the most important element is the subject’s demeanor, personality, intelligence, humor, and of course, their story. Rules... * Find the right place to make the picture * Clothing and grooming are essentials—in some cases it might be all you have going for you * Talk to your subject about when, where, and how before you take the picture * Have everything you need close at hand * Know your materials: Film, lenses, camera, etc. * Don’t get rattled; things happen while you work. Don’t worry about the small stuff * If he/she must be late, so be it. It’s better to wait than have your subject there, stressed out * Work fast, but not too fast—people wear out quickly, but mistakes last forever * Challenge people to participate in their picture * Push yourself to constantly look past your limits for opportunities * Learn as much as you can about your subject and use that information to make a connection with them * How it looks is how it looks, but does it have to look like that? * Eliminate distractions for yourself as well as for your subject * Have a goal for a portrait * Make notes before you start to make the portrait to remind yourself of strategies * Don’t quit till you get it * Be inspired—it’s required