Portraiture- Definition post

Dictionary definition;
- The art of painting or taking portraits.

Describing words;
Black and white, detailed, close-up, landscape, colour

In this portrait we can see that the background isn't straight black as the person in the photograph is wearing all black and has dark hair, so you wouldn't see her properly. As well as this we can see that the photographer has taken the lighting into consideration to crate shadows on her face and neck to emphasise on the form of her face.

In this portrait we are able to see the form of his face through the shadows created by the light shining onto the right hand side of his face. In the centre of this photograph we can see his neck, which draws attention to his tattoos but because his eyes are very dar compared to the rest of his face, it also draws attention to his eyes.

In this portrait the model looks very washed out as she has a very pale face, blonde hair and not a lot of makeup on in front of a light grey background. Even without a lot of makeup the lighting shows the form of her face created by her cheek bones and jaw line and her eyebrows stand out the most as they are dark in comparison with the rest of he photograph.

In this portrait the photographer is taking a close-up of the man's face in colour, by doing this it is allowing us the see all of the wrinkles ad hairs and other small details of the mans face. As the man eyes are close to the centre of the photograph is draws attention to his face rather than looking more that the background.

Own definition;
Portraiture is taking a photograph of a face or back of the head, usually from the shoulders up.

Portraiture- Image bank

Portraiture is when a photographer takes a picture of a person, usually from the shoulders up, as shown in the above photographs. When looking at portraitures images it is apparent that the photographer looks closely at form to create shape and depth of the ace, as well as lines and small details to make sure they are noticeable of not noticeable in some cases. With portraiture, if it is of the front of someones face the main focus would be the eyes as its near the centre of the face and that where the focus mainly is during a conversation with someone, this is why some portraiture photographers use the back of a persons head rather than the front so the focus is on the background as well as the person. In the third photograph we can see the back of a person head against a plain background. The use of the plain background stops any attention being drawn away from the details of the person like their earring and nape piercing. As well as this it makes the different tones of the persons head more noticeable as they contrast with the lighter tones of the background.