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Tittle Author Publisher Publication date ISBN Language Genre File Type |
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FACES - Photography and the Art of Portraiture Paul Fuqua and Steven Biver Elsevier 2010 978-0-240-81168-0 English Tutorial |
We would like this to be a book that helps you learn some things that will help you take portraits you like - portraits of which you are justifiably proud. We’d also like to help you enjoy the time you spend doing it. To accomplish these intertwined goals, we’ve assembled what, for lack of a better name, one might call a “teaching gallery between book covers.” The first three sections in it are:
The Selected Works of Contemporary Masters, such as Nadav Kander and Joyce Tenneson
Each of the six contributors to this section was kind enough to provide us with two images. These, they feel, exemplify their approach to portraiture. Taken together, the photographs in this gallery present a sampling of how some of the most sought-after photographers working today go about portrait making.
Portraits from the Past
This section presents images made from the earliest days of photography to the near present. The collection provides a chance for you to study the work of those portraitists - some, such as Ansel Adams and Edward S. Curtis, who are well known and some whose names are now lost forever whose body of work, both technically and stylistically, has helped to bring the art and craft of portraiture to where they stand today.
Making Portraits
This third section consists of both “studio” and “street” portraits shot by the coauthors of this book. These images are shown in a two-page format consisting of the portrait on one page and an explanation of how we made it on the other.
A DIFFERENT ARRANGEMENT
You will soon notice that we have not arranged the “Making Portraits” section in any particular stylistic or teaching order, and we suggest strongly that you don’t try to follow one while making your way through it. In other words, don’t begin with the first spread and methodically work through the others to the end. And don’t begin by looking at all the portraits in which we used one light and finish up with those we shot using four. Following such paths to enlightenment numbs the mind very quickly.
Instead, we suggest that you work your way through this section in a random manner, guided solely by what looks interesting to you at any particular time. One day, for example, a complex three-light studio shot may grab your eye. The next day, a simple natural-light street portrait may prove the most appealing to you.
Regardless of which portrait you select, don’t be in too much of a hurry with your study of it. Any work of art, be it a Greek statue or a Navajo necklace, takes time to soak in — takes time to percolate back and forth between your conscious and unconscious minds.
So don’t rush. Instead, slow down and try to absorb the image. Ask yourself such questions as what it is that draws you to it. What is it that makes this image “work” for you? Look carefully at how we posed and lit its subject. Read the accompanying notes, and if there is an associated diagram, take the time to go over it.
Finally, if you have the time and opportunity, try to shoot a portrait similar to ours. Note, however, that when you are doing this, we don’t mean that you should necessarily try to duplicate our picture exactly. If that’s what you want to do, fine. However, it’s also fine if you extract what you like from our example and then modify it to produce a product different from ours but satisfactory to you.
The important thing—whenever you shoot—is to produce a portrait with which you are satisfied, and to enjoy yourself while doing it. If you, and others like you, do these two things, we will be more than just a little happy that we wrote this book.
Please note that, although many photographers feel that the correct way to present instruction on lighting and posing is through the use of formulas, we disagree. Rather than advocating this approach, we feel that students are far better served through the process of exploration. Thus, we do not include separate chapters
dedicated to such topics as “The Four Basic Types of Lighting” or “The Rules of Posing.”
Instead, we feel strongly that the best way of garnering this knowledge is through the above-mentioned approach of selection followed by thoughtful study. To further that, we have included examples that address many of the classic poses and lighting styles. In addition, we have included many examples that take little or no note of such “standard” approaches and techniques, but rather set out in new directions to photography and the art of portraiture.
AND THEN…
The final part of this book contains sections devoted to “Street Shooting,” “Getting Ready” for a portrait shoot, “Modifying Light,” “Final Thoughts” on portraiture, and an appendix that explains some useful “Tools and Techniques.” Each of these sections is designed to help familiarize readers with some of the many different “nuts and bolts” aspects of portrait shooting.
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