Young Man (In Praise of Portraiture)

Nothing holds my attention like a good portrait. For years I have studied the work of the great portrait photographers: I am thinking of Inge Morath, Jane Bown, Cindy Sherman, Diane Arbus, Karsh, Avedon, Mapplethorpe and so on. .

Portrait photography has always struck me as the most noble of all the photographies though I am sure many on this site would disagree. The task of the portrait photographer is almost impossible; I define it as "capturing the Ich, the essence of a person..., that me the photographer is faced with. It is this that gives portraiture its nobility. For when the photographer manages to do that, when he triumphs the way Karsh's portrait of Churchill does, then I know of no photography that is as longlasting. Basically he or she manages to sum up the essential being behind the facade that our clothes, our facial features, body, habits etc. place between ourselves and the outside world.

Portraits are a tricky affair, the least thing can ruin a shot. It will be interesting to see what comments I get, if any, on this one. There are a couple of aspects I am not happy with so any critique will be taken seriously.