What is a portrait?
In my opinion, portraits are images of specific people that show something about them, their personalities, or a theme. Portraits should be able to accurately portray and characterize that thing, and a good portrait should make the viewer feel a certain emotion. Portraits can also be used to tell a story.
However, I think that there are also certain criteria for what is or is not a portrait. For example, a portrait should usually include the person that it is a portrait for – whether they’re facing the camera or away from it. Even if a collection of items could showcase something about a person, it wouldn’t qualify as a portrait since the person themselves is not present in the photo. I think that artistic abstractions could still work for a portrait, like if the photo is ripped or blurred or burned, because these abstractions and alterations could help create more emotion and lead to a better understanding of the theme the photographer wants to portray.
For example, in this image, the subject is looking away from the camera, and there is a strong motion blur applied to the image. This creates a windswept look to the image and makes the person appear as if they are in the middle of an action.
A series of image can also work as portraits, as they can show change over time or show a narrative.
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