Portrait and psychology: How to take a good shot. Psychological picture

From time immemorial, people have wanted to get their front portraits, on which they would be depicted beautiful and representative.

And it doesn't matter that in such portraits they very remotely looked like themselves: full dress, a special hairstyle. You will meet later on the street - you will not recognize!

For such pleasure, people paid a lot of money, and portraits were painted for a long time. Services of eminent artists assumed serious costs on the part of the customer. In a word, before the invention of photography, the portrait was the privilege of only very wealthy people.

It is hardly possible now to imagine what, say, Napoleon actually looked like. Portrait painters, as a rule, flattered the customer. The court painter always adapted to the ruler in order to please him. The same situation was with photography during the period of its invention. The photographer created the image of the subject, and this image was believed. Take, for example, portraits of famous political figures: Lenin with a kind squint, Stalin with a trusting look, Gorbachev with a retouched birthmark on his head ... By repeating the same image in numerous photographs, you can create a certain image of a person. Accordingly, portraits can be interpreted in different ways. One and the same person can be portrayed as courageous, kind, cruel, friendly.

A portrait photographer was once approached by a psychologist whose clientele consisted of the aging wives of the New Russians. He asked to be photographed by an older man, with the smile of a kind person who can be trusted. Before that, he was filmed in studios, and it turned out to be a kind of heroic macho. However, this image did not correspond at all to what he needed.

Photoshoot psychologist began immediately after the end of the working day. He came to the shooting tired, with an empty look. He really wanted everything to be filmed as soon as possible. And the portrait painter wanted to earn her money honestly. A conversation began between them. The photographer sat the psychologist down, began to turn on the light, at the same time she asked questions, told about herself, and, as if in between, pressed the button. An hour later, the work was completed. The customer looked rested, his eyes shone.

“Do you know what you did to me? - asked the psychologist. - You had a session of psychotherapy. It doesn’t matter what happens,” he continued, “you need to sell the atmosphere that reigns on the set.” Later, when he looked at his pictures, he was interested in what the photographer said to him at one time or another, and why he got such kind eyes.

When we shoot a portrait, we often shoot the reaction of the person being photographed to ourselves, who is shooting. And here it all depends on what the task is before you. Most often you want to get psychological picture, to catch the very emotion that best reflects what is inside, what can be called the soul.

It happens that when shooting, as soon as the photographer points the lens at a person, he gives out a learned smile with the words: “Shoot faster, I don’t have much time.” This learned smile is typical of celebrities who are used to frequent photo shoots in glossy magazines. They are always ready for a radiant smile on duty so that all 32 teeth can be seen. The result is a technically flawless photograph - provided that the photographer knows how to work with light - but completely uninteresting and empty in terms of emotions.

It's good when you manage to ensure that a person in your presence behaves naturally, as in a circle of friends. Alas, most people tense up at the sight of a lens. Therefore, your task is to become an invisible or trusted photographer.

In the frame of one photographer, a person looks cheerful and relaxed, in the frame of another, he has a serious, intense look. In the third case, it may seem pretentious, glamorous. In the fourth - the person is inscribed in the photo as art object, and the snapshot is treated as a set of characters, elements.

Even a very successful commercial photographer must have a reason why they shoot people and not still lifes. And many portrait painters want to achieve the similarity of a person and a photograph. That similarity when a person, looking in the mirror, sees himself beautiful, alive and relaxed.

Thus, it becomes obvious that the portrait is a psychological expression not only models but also a photographer. The meeting between the photographer and the model on the set turns into a collaboration. And what kind of photographers are - evil, kind, tough, soft - can be judged by their photographs.

Portrait photography is one of the most popular genres of photography. It's no secret that every amateur photographer begins his creative journey, first of all, from shooting portraits of his friends or loved ones. At first it seems that this type of photography is quite simple: you just need to put a person in front of the lens, choose a pose, adjust the light, focus the camera and take a picture. And, as a result, we got a seemingly finished photographic portrait, which has a complete external resemblance to the original. However, the main task of a portrait photographer is to convey the characteristic features of a person, his emotions and mood. At the same time, the expression of a human face changes almost every second. The photographer must be able to find and capture exactly the moment that would fully reflect the inner world of a person. To do this, he must be a little psychologist, be attentive and sensitive to the behavior of people.

Psychology is an important part of portrait photography. After all, a simple transfer of a person’s appearance does not guarantee that the portrait will turn out to be good and eye-catching. Often people in photographic portraits turn out to be completely different from themselves: with a frozen, flat face, bulging eyes and an unnaturally turned head. Such photographic cards can be called "a face like a passport." These images are so different from the living poses and emotions inherent in a person that the resemblance in the photograph is only purely mechanical. Therefore, it is so important in portrait shooting not only to convey the appearance of a person, but also to express his “nature” through a characteristic pose, this or that facial expression or mood.

The thing is that often people, preparing for portrait shooting, hold themselves in front of the lens a little stiffly and unnaturally. Therefore, the photographer must, first of all, remove the psychological stress from the person so that he stops responding to the camera with a frozen expression on his face or an exceptionally forced smile. To do this, of course, it is necessary to constantly communicate with the model, to provide a kind of energy exchange during the shooting. The main thing is that a person should feel comfortable next to the photographer and the camera, and not be afraid to reveal their emotions. He must remain himself, because only this will correctly emphasize the beauty of the human soul. The photographer needs to stop fiddling with technique, light or numerous settings, and turn to the person and begin to be interested in him. It is always important for a portrait photographer to psychologically win over a model, to interest a person, to understand his mood and, in the end, to feel it. Only then will a person show sympathy in response, stop being afraid of the manifestations of their emotions and fully open up in front of the camera. Thus, in psychological terms, in order to get a good portrait shot, it is necessary to move from the formal level of communication with the model to the intimate one.

Although the photographer must be able to convince the person in any situation that it is he who makes decisions on the set, nevertheless, it is not necessary to tire the person being filmed and unnecessarily “command” him. A person should try to express himself, without fear in front of the camera, in a playful manner. If the portrait painter cannot relax the model and make the person feel confident, then it is unlikely that a good male or female portrait will be achieved. During the shooting, the photographer should never strongly express his emotions, do not make a distressed face, frustrated sighs, or, conversely, admiring exclamations. After all, a person does not see the resulting frames during the filming process, which gives rise to internal anxiety and additional stress in him.

Of course, such psychological moments can not always be applied in practice. There are situations when events develop quite rapidly even for the photographer himself and it is required to carry out portrait shooting in a short time. There is practically no time to get to know and communicate with the model. Then the most important quality for a portrait photographer is the ability to discern something special, beautiful in people and fix it. To do this, you need to develop natural observation, try every time to look closely at the features of a person’s face, his expressions and emotions. The photographer must smoothly change the person's poses, capturing all stages of movement. Changing the pose can create a completely new mood for the model, which must be able to capture. Each person has his own postures and gestures, which fully allow him to express his individuality. A skilled portrait photographer should be able to find these poses through their powers of observation and artistic taste. At the same time, no matter what emotions a person experiences during the shooting - laughter, sadness, embarrassment, fear or delight - they must be captured on camera. The photographer himself must acquire the necessary experience and knowledge in order to quickly and correctly find the most natural poses for a person, in accordance with his individual qualities.

Thus, the key to success in portrait photography is the establishment of mutual understanding and a relationship of trust between the photographer and the model. This inner contact and observation of the photographer help him notice the most interesting moments, habitual facial expressions, various emotions and mood of the person being portrayed during a conversation with a person. And at the moment when he feels that the person's face has taken on a characteristic expression and internal features characteristic of him, a picture is taken. Of course, such peculiar skills and psychological abilities of a photographer are acquired only in the process of regular practice.

If you want to truly convey the character of the person in the picture, keep in mind that the model should not experience any discomfort. A few tricks will help you with this. First, talk to the person about something that is of mutual interest to both of you, so you relieve nervousness. Within minutes of starting a conversation, people forget about the camera, so all you have to do is capture the interesting expressions on their faces every time they appear. Second, never ask the sitter to smile or say "cheese."

A real smile comes from within, and the only way to make a person smile is to give him a reason to do so: to tell a joke, to talk about something funny. Of course, you won't always be looking for smiles. If you look at the creations of successful portrait photographers, you will often see that their models have a noticeably more thoughtful, serious expression, which makes the person's character more pronounced. Perhaps the person you want to photograph boasts an independent view of political issues, or perhaps he has experienced some kind of adversity in his time. The more you know about a person, the more you can control the situation by anticipating what type of portrait you will get.

Try to always make the right impression that you are "confident and in control", even if in reality you are just as nervous as your model. If people feel like you don't know what to do, they will never be able to trust you. The most interesting expressions appear and disappear in a split second, so always be on the lookout and be ready to "grab" them. Third, plan ahead so that your shoot is quick and easy. Decide on a location, come up with a few ideas, and set up the equipment so you can get to work. Posing for portraits quickly tires people out, so if you can't get a few good shots in the first half hour, chances are you won't succeed today.

If you're working indoors, in a photography studio setting, be aware of the lighting so it doesn't make it difficult to determine exposure. A single flash equipped with a softbox is ideal for male portraits, and when positioned 45-90 degrees from the subject, it can help you create lighting that can bring out sculpted facial features and skin texture. If you will be photographing a woman or a girl, use soft light, rather a backlight devoid of harsh shadows. Two flashes and two softboxes located on either side of the camera will create ideal conditions. light.

When working outdoors, the soft light of a clear, slightly cloudy day is ideal for portraiture as the contrast will be low and harsh shadows and bright highlights will not be a problem for you. If you have to work in bright sunlight, position your model in the shade where the lighting is soft and free of shadows, or keep the sun behind the person and use a reflector to illuminate the face. Most often, the most successful portraits are the simplest, so the less technique you have at hand, the more you will concentrate on the person. Remember this and you can't go wrong.

Be prepared to take a fair amount of shots to get one single good portrait.

A good psychological (genre) portrait is not photoshopped in expensive clothes and makeup, which seeks to show its glamour. A good portrait shows a person as he is 99% of his life, shows character and slightly opens the curtain over the inner world of a person.

For some reason, people always want to decorate their appearance in the photo with an artificial smile, an unnatural pose, or some things ... Meanwhile, it is almost impossible to recognize people in such photographs. The same applies to classical artistic portraits - the artist always wanted to embellish the appearance of the person being portrayed so that he would like his portrait.

But there are people who need real faces and emotions. Let such a portrait not look like a photo from the cover of a fashion magazine, but this portrait will be liked by both the person and the photographer. If a person’s appearance changes over time, then there is almost no inner world, and it will be possible to recognize a person from it.

An experienced photographer, creating portraits not for magazine covers, but for clients, or, even more likely, for himself, will always be able to find those words that will calm the person being portrayed and, in the process of shooting, fully reveal his real face. Talking during a photo shoot can create invisible bonds between the photographer and their model. The shooting process can be a great psychotherapy session and a time of relaxation. Aleksey Kucher also wrote about this, he even patented his own method of “photo-correction” of the personality, in which a person becomes more self-confident, more easily overcomes complexes, vulnerability and anxiety.

Remember, do you feel comfortable in front of the camera of a professional photographer? Doesn't the thought "what do I look like" start to torment you? So, he will find an approach to a person, with the help of which excellent portraits and a good psychotherapeutic conversation will turn out, in which the person being portrayed will not be worried about the purely visual aspects of photography.

Often, a photographer who is spotted with a camera ready to shoot captures the reaction to the camera in the pictures. For many people, this reaction is learned by heart - some begin to smile, others turn away. Therefore, if you shoot in everyday life, try to make people either not notice you as a photographer, or get used to you and your camera and also not notice the moment you press the shutter.

Of course, there are people who tend to appear in photographs as completely different personalities than they really are. Well, and such a desire must be satisfied. Here, it’s not conversations that come to the fore, not “”, but the ability to work with light, camera and photoshop. And in such a portrait there is also a sense, but not psychology anymore ...

"In focus"- a stream about photography, in which two professional photographers talk about photography, genres of modern photography and, using their own examples, reveal the secrets of mastery and possession of a compact semi-professional camera Olympus PEN.

Portrait and psychology

Portrait is my favorite genre of photography. If you open the first advice you come across on the first site that offers to teach photography, then at the very beginning you will read that a portrait photographer, in addition to just taking good pictures, needs to be a psychologist. When learning to take portraits, you can afford to take a few hundred shots with your girlfriend and then choose just one. When the task is to take at least three shots and give them to the editor to choose from, but the time is ten minutes and the one you shoot is not only a complete stranger, but also annoyed by another photographer who takes his precious time, you will understand how important it is to find a common language. Skills in psychology and in how to win over the heroes of the shooting are really necessary. But in addition to them, you will need others.

At that moment, when photography was not yet available to everyone, but had already spread enough, photographic studios began to appear. The establishments were very different, and those who used to order a formal portrait of the artist now began to come to be photographed by families, to take group portraits or to be photographed alone. It was cheaper and faster. Now it sounds wild, but sometimes the person being portrayed sat in a motionless position for up to half an hour in order for the photo to turn out sharp. That's what people then understood by the word "faster". My favorite detail is that in the atelier there were special chairs with a metal stand screwed to them with clamps to fix a person's head for the right time. They are surprisingly similar to instruments of torture. A modern version of this fixture is used by the German photographer couple Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler in their series. Mona Lisas of the Suburbs.

Photos from the series Mona Lisas of the SuburbsPhotos from the series Mona Lisas of the SuburbsPhotos from the series Mona Lisas of the SuburbsPhotos from the series Mona Lisas of the SuburbsPhotos from the series Mona Lisas of the SuburbsPhotos from the series Mona Lisas of the SuburbsPhotos from the series Mona Lisas of the SuburbsPhotos from the series Mona Lisas of the Suburbs

If you want to try to stylize your work like the first photos, then try to make a portrait where the person's face looks like it has fallen out of time. To do this, leave your model motionless for a while. Once you take a picture, you will be able to capture the person's defocused gaze. At the same time, it is good to observe all the technology: do not use a flash and additional artificial light, give something into the hands of a person, on which he seems to be leaning, or simply ask him to prop his chin with his hand.

A story with classical pictorial motifs is incredibly popular. Many authors often try themselves in this genre, but only in some cases do they get something that attracts the eye and deserves the viewer's phrase "yes, this is what modern Venus looks like." Some photographers say that they try to lay the hands of the person being portrayed the way it looks in picturesque portraits or photographs of the beginning of the century. It's worth paying attention to if you don't want endless chicken feet in your photos, because even professional models don't know where to put their hands.

Pictures of Rineke DijkstraPictures of Rineke DijkstraPictures of Rineke DijkstraPictures of Rineke DijkstraPictures of Rineke Dijkstra

For my taste, German photography exudes technicality and coldness. It so happens that countless portraits of models dressed in blue denim or plain white shirts, against a white background, all publications that idolize this aesthetic are indebted to the German pre-war photographer August Sander. He made, filmed and cataloged professions, and German people in general. All photos were taken with a non-mobile camera and with a slow shutter speed. The photographer lined up the entire frame before pulling the shutter because he only had a few takes.

Pictures of August SanderPictures of August SanderPictures of August SanderPictures of August SanderPictures of August SanderPictures of August SanderPictures of August Sander

There is an exercise that photographer Helen van Meen literally forced her group to do, whose summer seminar I attended in St. Petersburg. We took portraits of complete strangers in the park. Doing things like this for a photographer who wants to learn how to shoot a portrait is extremely important. Communication with strangers allows you to be more sensitive to the feelings of another person, and at the same time, useful skills appear: how to explain to a person why he needs to pose, persuade him to relax, not smile like this is a photo for a family archive, and - most importantly - learn empathy. To understand at the level of intuition what is important to tell a person so that he is immediately ready to act in film and becomes disposed towards you.

Photos by Helen van Min
Photos by Helen van Min
Photos by Helen van Min
Photos by Helen van Min
Photos by Helen van Min
Photos by Helen van Min
Photos by Helen van Min

The most important piece of advice Helen gave us was that even if you don't know what to do, don't let the models feel for a second that you're unsure. The person will simply stop trusting you. If you learn to win over people, then even with limited time, you will be able to take the necessary pictures. Although there is also the opposite opinion. A technique that I use when I need to reveal a person and make an intimate image. In this case, it is best to pretend that you do not know what to do, and the person will help to make an interesting shot, sometimes in the most unusual ways.

Antoine D'agata pictures
Antoine D'agata pictures
Antoine D'agata pictures
Antoine D'agata pictures

The amount of time, takes, and how it affects the shot depends on your goal. There are authors who specifically select unsuccessful takes.

Photos from the series Anouk Kruithof "Blue"Photos from the series Anouk Kruithof "Blue"Photos from the series Anouk Kruithof "Blue"Photos from the series Anouk Kruithof "Blue"Photos from the series Anouk Kruithof "Blue"Photos from the series Anouk Kruithof "Blue"Photos from the series Anouk Kruithof "Blue"Photos from the series Anouk Kruithof "Blue"Photos from the series Anouk Kruithof "Blue"

To be honest, I have never seen a portrait painter who would shout or be rude to his model. If this is a nude or semi-nude portrait, then you should not undress a person as soon as he comes to you (unless, of course, this is a professional model who poses naked every day and you pay her by the minute). A ticket to the intimacy and trust of a person to depict his body in great detail must be earned. In no case should you press, it is important to always remain delicate. Sometimes, as a psychological game, the photographer can leave the room, entrusting the self-timer to the person being portrayed. Which, of course, is also a way of communication.

Photographs of Adam Broomberg & Oliver ChanarinPhotographs of Adam Broomberg & Oliver ChanarinPhotographs of Adam Broomberg & Oliver ChanarinPhotographs of Adam Broomberg & Oliver ChanarinPhotographs of Adam Broomberg & Oliver ChanarinPhotographs of Adam Broomberg & Oliver ChanarinPhotographs of Adam Broomberg & Oliver ChanarinPhotographs of Adam Broomberg & Oliver ChanarinPhotographs of Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin

Shooting with a digital camera, you can afford to take more dynamic shots and what is called in the language of documentary photographers, "bomb", that is, to do almost continuous shooting. Then when making a choice, use, for example, intermediate shots when the person has not yet taken a pose (provided that you allow him to do whatever he wants, and do not turn him three centimeters to the left). Which is an interesting move when you don't want to make an official portrait, but one that will be believed.

Photos of Margo Ovcharenko taken with Olympus PEN
Photos of Margo Ovcharenko taken with Olympus PEN
Photos of Margo Ovcharenko taken with Olympus PEN
Photos of Margo Ovcharenko taken with Olympus PEN
Photos of Margo Ovcharenko taken with Olympus PEN

If you want to take a portrait of a person who would not pose for you, in order to get the way they see themselves, it is worth using a silent camera. That's what I liked about Olympus PEN. Compared to the analog cameras I usually use, it takes less time for the person to stop acting like they're "taking pictures" and just relax and come out naturally beautiful.

Having established contact, you can make any image, playing with subtle emotions: asking them to remember the last time the model was cut by paper or experienced a sad incident. You can get any negative emotion of very different depths. Memories are the easiest way to evoke emotions in both face and posture. If you need a mysterious and languid portrait of a girl, ask her to look not at you, but for you, remembering a romantic adventure.

When shooting a portrait on Olympus PEN you will need:

Contest for readers of the stream "In focus"(Acceptance of works for the competition is closed).

Put theory into practice, create artwork using tips from the author, and win a compact interchangeable lens camera Olympus PEN.

To participate in the competition, you must:

• correctly answer two questions about the Olympus PEN camera;
• create a work in accordance with the creative task;
• send answers to questions and creative work to the address olympus@site with theme "Olympus - Portrait" not later December 5, 2011

The winners will be chosen by a jury in January 2012.

Questions:

1. What colors are available in the CS-31B leather cases for the Olympus PEN?
2. With what is it possible to transfer photos from Olympus PEN to a smartphone, PC or other Olympus PEN camera without using a cable?

Creative task for a portrait: "Man and the environment that describes him" by Margo Ovcharenko:

Take a picture of a person close to you in such a way that your feelings for him are clear. The portrait should be made in natural light in any environment (apartment, park, free space) and show his emotional state at the moment.