Prairie Light Images

11 Outstanding Collections of Portraiture Photography

Portraiture Photography is one of my favourite types of photography.  The ability to interpret  an individual’s personality by varying the lighting, lens, aperture, costume and post processing makes portraiture an extremely rich art form.

In part of my quest for inspiration I have been travelling about the internet of late, looking for sites of interest involving portraiture. Please take the time to visit the following sites and admire the outstanding artistry or just plain old creative thinking employed by these photographers. Once having had your inspiration tank filled up, venture out and see what new images you can create too!

 

50+ Stunning examples of close-up Face Portraits is a posting by Ali Qayyum on the Lava360.com site. It shows various stunning examples of portraiture under differing lighting, make-up and poses that make for captivating images. Unfortunately, none of the images appear to be credited back to any original source and, while Ali does not take credit for the photos, we are left wondering who the photographers are, making this a disappointing site from the perspective of getting to know new photographers.

Alison at Teenangster.net has posted a collection of  Man Ray Portraits taken in the 1920′s.  If you have never heard of him, Man Ray’s biography can be found here.  This is a wonderful example to show that there is really nothing new under the sun.  Many of the concepts of these photos would be right at home almost 100 years later in any modern photographer’s  portfolio.

21 Inspirational Natural Light Portraits are posted on the Digital Photography School website by Darren Rowse.  These are very nice, mood inspiring images that show what one can do with just a camera, a subject and a nearby window.

Michael Zhang over at PetaPixel points us to some very dramatic Faceless Portraits with Low-Key Lighting by French photographer Quentin Arnaud.  Some of these images border on the creepiness of a Hitchcock film.  Very cool stuff.

Emily Hildebrand on her Photography Blogger site shows us 12 Beautiful Portraits From Ailera Stone Photography.  These gorgeous interpretations of women (all fully clothed, thank you very much) evoke a misty autumnal feeling with excellent use of wide aperture and colour tones.

Demortalz website gives us 75 Expressive Portraits To Inspire Your Photography.  This posting is a compilation of a variety of photographers’ works, all nicely listed with access to their websites at the beginning of the posting.  There are many fantastic images in this collection with a wide variety of lighting and post processing techniques, ranging from the subtle to the heavily manipulated.  A true feast for the eyes.

Kristen Joy Watts at the New York Times Lens website points us to some very classically lit portraits by Miguel Angel Sanchez in a posting called In Cairo, a Painterly Cast of Characters.  This collection is a set of character studies of residents of the city of Cairo.  They are very expressive, dark and moody.

While not a photography website, The Luxury Spot has pointed us to some Weird Pregnancy Portraits found on the AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com site.  Yup, they are pretty weird.

For those who enjoy looking at portraits of fashion models (who wouldn’t) there is a collection of Portraits by Natalia Alaverdian for Harper’s Bazaar Russia posted on the Fashion Copious website.  If she looks like a fashion model and poses like a fashion model, then she must still be a fashion model even when she is carrying a milking pail to a cow.  Auntie Em never looked so haute couture.

Saini Sa’aB gives us some character studies in a series of Portraits of Former LA Gang Members.  This is a rough looking crowd, yet somehow, a serenity has been captured where there once may have been a much harsher edge.  A very nice set of interpretations using soft lighting.

Finally, my favourite site of this collection found at Photodom.com of a photographer named Adalena.  This gifted photographer has chosen to reinterpret various historical events and artistic works with her camera and some very talented post processing.  A true ocular banquet, indeed.

As I have now run out of adjectives I will leave it up to you, dear reader, to take a look at these sites and draw your own inspiration.  Why not let us know what you like and perhaps do not like in this collection in the comments below?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider signing up for my free newsletter, published each month.  As a member, you will be eligible for special offers, articles and other goodies only available to subscribers.

 

 

Posted on Monday, December 5th, 2011 at 10:17 pm. Filed under: Photography, portraits Tags: Black & White, criticism, exposure, Flash, high key, low key, photographers, portraiture, style, technique RSS 2.0 feed.