Everyday Portraits

Pay close attention to the types and number of photographic portraits you see in one day. Where did you see them? How do you think that the content of the portrait changes based on the context in which you see the image (news, facebook, magazine, advertisement, television, youtube, etc)? In other words, what is the difference between the portraits you see on facebook vs. those on the news? What is the difference between the “viewpoint” of the photographer in each situation? What is the difference between their “intents”?


Facebook + Twitter: "Profile pictures" are the photos we choose to brand ourselves. They give a face to a name. They are what a person sees first upon viewing a friend's profile. Naturally, people try to put up the "best" photo of themselves, I mean, why wouldn't you? You want to portray the best image of yourself as possible. In this situation, a person has complete control over how they are presented to the world.


Magazines and Advertisements: Much like Facebook, the portraits found in these mediums are usually aimed at portraying the best images of people as possible--at least for feature stories. Why would a celebrity want their blemishes plastered over the front page of a nationally published magazine? Though sometimes this happens anyway, when a man with a camera leaps out of the bushes for an impromptu, unflattering photo shoot) And as for ads, why would a shampoo company want an "ugly" person promoting their newest conditioner?


News: This is where you generally see the widest variety of portraits, because the goal of the news is to portray the truth of a situation. The people being featured in this medium generally have the least control over how they are presented. However, this mostly means showing people at their worst and at their best. Usually it is one of the extremes, otherwise it's not news.


If the intent of the photographer is to make a person look good, then usually a "good" photo will be used. If the reverse is true (i.e candid celebrity shots, the unwanted 'tag' on Facebook) then there will be a "bad" photo for the world to see.