Assignments for similar shots of the CEOs or managers of corporations can command
a bigger price tag. Likewise they, too, have to satisfy the subject. If he/she does not like
them you do not get paid. Whereas the same effort and craft may go into a portrait
for a magazine, editorial work has to satisfy the quixotic opinions of the art director
who may demand a more creative, stylistic approach. It matters little that the subject
may not even like the eventual published picture. The magazine is paying for it. Only
when the portrait is intended to be personal or art are you obligated to no one besides
yourself.
Traditionally, a major criterion is to capture the face(s). But there are no hard and fast
rules. Some very famous, iconic images of significant personalities have withstood the
test of time without the face in evidence: Pablo Casals from behind by Yousuf Karsh
and Georgia O’Keeffe’s hands by John Loengard.
The celebrity of famous people often overshadows the artistry involved. Dedicated
portrait photographers add gravity to the accomplishments of the rich, famous and
notorious and similarly give “voice” to those never heard before.
Good portraiture has a special longevity that is in direct opposition to the ephemeral
nature of today’s “party pics”. Both have a place in our society. Photography nails down
our narrative. It is our subconscious made concrete. Portraits are our placeholders in
antiquity. They can be our dreams that end up in frames.
12| PicsArt Monthly