Our definitionS of 'portrait'

[mdm]

There is a long tradition in photography of photographing hands. Your defenition denies them the status of portrait.

http://www.nga.gov/collection/galler...oto-71867.html
http://artwranglers.com.au/ben-cauchi/

[jnantz]

a portrait i guess is obviously different things to different people.
it can show someone viewing at the photograph a glimpse
of who the person is ( or isn't )
it is almost as much the person behind the camera and the person being photographed,
i don't know if i would call a detail of someone's hands ( or ears or feet as nicholas nixon has done )
a portrait of them, anymore than
i would call a construction detail of a building a photograph of the ( whole )building
( where a photograph of a building is like its portrait - showing a glimpse of its personality )
but then again maybe it is as much them ( the sitter ) as photographing tea leaves
or tarot cards, their palms or the bumps on their heads or
even objects close to the person being photographed ( without including the person )
as well as their work / living space since these abstractions are able to reveal parts of their personality
and the things/ places are "parts of the whole" ...

[William McEwen]

There is a long tradition in photography of photographing hands.

Yes, and it should be discouraged.

[Vaughn]

My photo professor at university was of the opinion that portraits should include hands, as they are as expressive as faces.

He was primarily a portrait and street photographer and his opinion was worthy of attention. http://magazine.humboldt.edu/spring0...or-tom-knight/

Vaughn

[lenser]

I would not expect it to be as universal as a facial portrait, but to all of her grand children, a photograph of my late grandmother's terribly arthritic hands would say everything about the countless loving meals she cooked for us, the hours she spent quilting and mending family clothing, the aromas from her kitchen every Monday (her baking day) as she kneaded mountains of dough and turned out many loaves of bread and wonderful German coffee cakes and pastries for the family, and her incredible strength and independence as she supported herself by baby sitting, and well into her nineties; by cleaning homes (including scrubbing floors on her knees) for several clients.

For all of us, that image would unquestionably be a portrait like no other, one filled with memories of her example.

[Jay DeFehr]

Karsh also emphasized the importance of hands in his portraits, and claimed to light them separately.

[Emil Schildt]

I have a book with portraits done by HBC.

Here the hands are clearly important.

[Heroique]

Here are the hands that started it all (Albrecht Durer, brush drawing, 1508).

They portray a formal gesture – but their startling, expressive individuality is what makes them unforgettable. (Durer was a Renaissance artist, after all. ) This is a portrait in my book...

Historians suspect they’re modeled after his mother’s hands (see lenser’s comments just above), but can anyone doubt that Durer gave his own hands a glance or two while drawing them?

[Heroique]

And here’s a self-portrait of Albrecht Durer himself (oil painting, 1500).

I thought I’d include this because of its expressive use of the hand – set within the wider context of the subject’s face and upper body.

His facial expression is very formal & emotionally distant, but the hand, even though it too is partly a stylized gesture, adds a splendid touch of personality: “I just love the feel of this animal fur,” he might be thinking, “isn’t it just fabulous!”

[Jim Galli]

.........and, time to unsubscribe I guess. Nothing to learn here. ooops. thinking out loud again.