A portrait photographer’s primary job is to make their subject feel good about themselves. Sure, you also have to do flattering photos. But if the subject doesn’t feel confident about themselves, they won’t like the photo results.
Why wouldn’t they like the finished pictures? They might think their nose is too big, their jaw is crooked, their eyes uneven, their hair not right, their smile not good enough, or any of a hundred other things.
People don’t see themselves the same way as other people do. This is partly due to lateralization of emotion: a photograph shows the real us and not the reversed mirror reflection that we’re used to.
It’s also due to expectation and hope. We expect to look as young as we feel. We hope to look like a movie star. We expect to look better than average. We hope no one can see our flaws.
Every portrait photographer knows how to use lighting to minimize facial wrinkles, add life to the eyes and make a face appear wider or thinner. Photographers also know how to use camera angle to minimize a double chin, to compensate for a too-long or too-short nose and how to highlight some features while hiding others.
But photo technique may not be good enough because some portrait subjects may not see what they see when they look at pictures of themselves. Instead, they see what they remember. And what they may remember is that someone once told them they had a big nose, a crooked smile, a tired face or sad eyes. They remember what’s wrong, not what’s right.
Being in front of a camera often causes people to be more self-conscious and self-aware. A good portrait photographer has to be a bit of a psychologist. You have to enhance your subject’s self-confidence and make them less self-aware. Put them in a good state of mind.
They say that eyes are the window to the soul. If that’s true, and it seems to be [original 2007 study here], then good portrait photography has to show what’s behind that window.
To do this, a portrait photographer, like a psychologist, has to notice, understand and deal with any anxiety, self-awareness issues or self-deprecating behaviour in their subjects. This can be done by always talking with them and keeping them involved in the photography process.
Remember that portrait photography is not still life photography.
