Portraits have been used for hundreds of years, starting in early British history of Kings and Queens, Land Owners and other Rich families. Then it moved onto famous works of art such as the 'Mona Lisa' and portraits seen in Galleries of King Henry VIII. This then advanced to everyone having their portrait taken, for use with College ID's to Facebook Pictures. Thanks to the creation and the advancement of Photography, Portraits aren't just for the rich and famous anymore. Before the invention of Cameras, portraits of someone had to be commisioned. Now, anyone can be in a portrait.
Diane Arbus
Diane Arbus was a portrait photographer, most notably for doing the family portraits of the Matthaie family in 1969, showing interesting shots of the family, and who they really were. She wanted to strip away the factor of what the subjects of the photo wanted people to see, to show what people can't help but see. Her pictures were extremely exposing, and also were a lot more realistic. Her photos weren't flattering, that wasn't her intent. They were real and interesting, and showed what the real family life was. She didn't follow mainstream photo tastes, she went for the peculiar. Her work became very celebrated, but sadly she killed herself in 1971 by slashing her wrists with razors.
A portrait, as seen from above, is usually of a person in a posed situation, but it can differ to catch 'the decisive moment' or display a person how the photographer wishes them to be portrayed, such as Diane Arbus did with her portraits of the Matthaie family.
No comments:
Post a Comment