And then there's that wonderful, symbolic photo by Leonard
Freed showing a prisoner's hand reaching through the bars of
his jail cell. While one may argue that it's not a
portrait, I see it as a very telling one on several levels.
You also wrote:
> I like portraits of
> people whose character shows
> through not only in expression but
> in what is
> surrounding him or her...
> just my personal thing, and close head
> shots can be
> very revealing, too.
> But I do distinguish between "portraits' and
> "pictures of people" -
Agreed, 100%. Many "portraits" are little more than
pictures of people, showing little if anything of their
character, who they are, and their place in the world. A
bit of the subject's usual environment within the
photograph, something of the way the dress or carry
themselves as opposed to a more typical head-and-shoulders
pic, go a long way to making a picture a portrait.
Ann Sanfedele wrote:
>
> Shel Belinkoff wrote:
> >
> > Sometimes a portrait doesn't include a person or a critter.
> > See Elliott Erwitt's famous portrait of Pablo Casals, the
> > cellist, made for the Puerto Rican Tourist Board (IIRC).
> > Casals couldn't be there because he had had a heart attack.
> > Yet Erwitt made a great portrait of the maestro ...
> >
> And _I_ didn't think of mentioning that??? Must
> have been sleepy :)
>
> ann
