On Fri, 2 Feb 2001 at 19:26:11 -0600, Dan Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> ...I don't think I've ever had *any* adult over the age of 25-30
> tell me they actually liked a headshot I'd taken of them, generally
> saying *I* made them look horsey/old/horrid/wrinkly/puffy/had bad
> skin/yellow teeth/etc./etc.. Telling them that I thought the photo
> was great because it looked just like them, never seems to have
> the effect I'd intended. <G>
> So I'm faced with a problem, do I give someone a photo I like but
> that makes them feel bad about themselves, or do I shoot photos I
> like and give them prints that make them feel good about
> themselves and me?
For a professional portraitist, of course, there's no problem. The
customer says what he/she wants and that's what's provided. But we
amateurs all have *exactly* the problem you describe.
After I got my new Z1-p and 77 ltd last summer I rushed off and took
some snapshots of a friend in her garden. I didn't take great care in
posing her, and combined with the sharpness of the 77 it led to the
issuance of a diktat "Don't you ever dare point that thing at me
again!" Admittedly, one of the shots made her look like someone
waiting in line for a brain transplant or something.
I used the F 100/2.8 to photograph a heavily tattooed friend. He was
quite interested in the closeups of his tattoos, never having seen
some of them in quite such detail (i.e. his huge back piece). One
that stood out in my mind, a head-and-shoulders portrait in which one
only glimpses a tattoo on one shoulder.
To my mind, it is one of the best portrait shots I've ever taken. The
contrast between the serious facial expression and the hinted tattoo
give the thing great psychological depth. I feel it truly reveals
something of my friend's inner life. It is a truly beautiful
photograph.
But the subject had precisely the reaction you describe in your first
(quoted) paragraph. <sigh>
I think the difficulty is that sharp portraits dispel the subjects'
illusions about their appearance, and no one likes having their
illusions undone. I imagine that on the whole, PDMLer's are not a
very handsome lot and that we all look at ourselves in the mirror
from time to time. But I will also assert that our inner pictures of
ourselves leave out the sagging flesh, the skin defects, the graying
hair, the bloodshot eyes, the bulging waistlines. The camera is less
kindly.
About the only solution that comes to mind is to take some portraits
of one's nearest and dearest with the pantyhose over the lens, and
others without, and don't let the subjects see the sharp ones.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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