How do you see and appreciate a large format Portrait?

[diversey]

When you see a large format portrait, how do you appreciate and comment it?

[Tin Can]

I have seen very few LF portraits in person, mostly at ARTIC

I buy books, my Karsh book is magnificent and I found it cheap in a Chicago hipster bookstore

Every page a portrait that could be framed

https://karsh.org/bibliography/faces-of-destiny/

I look for an expression that defines the person, I do better with DSLR than LF

[Vaughn]

I tend to think of E.W. and his "No retouching".

[Tin Can]

Like this story

https://pcnw.org/files/Weston-on-portraiture.pdf

[Peter Lewin]

I probably see actual prints primarily in museum or gallery shows. I don’t pay much attention to the format, since what gets my attention is the expression on the subject’s face. By that I mean a show of emotion, rather than a straight-ahead “say cheese” smile. The exception might be “environmental portraiture” such as the famous image of Stravinsky (?) at his grand piano, where his face is not the sole center of attention. IIRC, many of Penn’s famous portraits were taken with a Rollei (medium format).

[Jim Jones]

I have seen very few LF portraits in person, mostly at ARTIC

I buy books, my Karsh book is magnificent and I found it cheap in a Chicago hipster bookstore

Every page a portrait that could be framed

https://karsh.org/bibliography/faces-of-destiny/

I look for an expression that defines the person, I do better with DSLR than LF

In 1959 Karsh published Portraits of Greatness, a giant step forward in reproduction of fine photographs. Karsh closely monitored the publication to ensure the best possible quality. The printing was done in the Netherlands and is far better than any other book of that time that I've seen. The pages measure about 9.4x12 inches, and can easily be removed for framing. They are sheet fed gravure with a delicate matte finish. The first edition is still occasionally available online for a wide range of prices. I don't know if subsequent reprints have retained such quality.

[Tin Can]

I have that exact Gravure 1st edition.

Somewhere Safe

Too safe as I can’t find it right now



In 1959 Karsh published Portraits of Greatness, a giant step forward in reproduction of fine photographs. Karsh closely monitored the publication to ensure the best possible quality. The printing was done in the Netherlands and is far better than any other book of that time that I've seen. The pages measure about 9.4x12 inches, and can easily be removed for framing. They are sheet fed gravure with a delicate matte finish. The first edition is still occasionally available online for a wide range of prices. I don't know if subsequent reprints have retained such quality.

[Tin Can]

Just to be honest, a phrase I hate as it usually is a lie

I have posted before about Karsh portraits, even admitting I copied 4 from my personal Karsh Gravure book

The copies hang on my walls, to study, never to be sold, no digital images of the CRIME were made

I learned from this forum I had committed a huge CRIME and was thrashed for admitting it even though I did not POST any images

Thought Crime

My LF goal was personal learning

Learning how to make an excellent COPY on 4X5 film

Learning how to ENLARGE them to 11X14 on archival FB paper with mounting

I am not REPENTANT as what I do in my hovel is private

and learning what a good portrait looks like

no retouching required in any way

[Paul Ron]

ya step back n say... not bad, not bad at all.

[ic-racer]

I don't follow portraiture, I think the 20x24 Polaroid stuff is all I can recall off hand seeing in person. On the internet, everything looks to be digitally manipulated so I usually think 'what is the point, why not just ray-trace the whole thing from the start and do away with the film.'

[Tin Can]

Obviously this forum and any digital page is worthless when showing any art

even 'Masters of Art'

we thrall have no chance

all good art has been made


I don't follow portraiture, I think the 20x24 Polaroid stuff is all I can recall off hand seeing in person. On the internet, everything looks to be digitally manipulated so I usually think 'what is the point, why not just ray-trace the whole thing from the start and do away with the film.'

[otto.f]

ya step back n say... not bad, not bad at all.

+1. I don’t understand the question either, so this post is just meant to get some more words around it. After ~40 years of photography I have become more and more convinced that a lot of photography domains, and portraiture not the least, is in the end an intuitive thing. Like football. You can train, have strategic concepts, plans, ideas, etc. But in the end it depends on how you act in real time, at that precise moment. And consciousness is rather an obstruction than helpful. In line with that, arguments to underpin an appreciation are idle in my view.
But what makes a good portrait is, if you can see/feel/experience contact with the portraitee, which is a sort of genuine and not posed

[Vaughn]

Working with actresses and actors could be fun. "Show me the real you." "Which one?"

[rdenney]

Portraits are like Yosemite. Photographs of famous people tend to dominate, for the same reason that photographs of Yosemite do.

We think of a portrait as capturing something important that is greater than simply what the sitter looks like, but we don’t know the sitter, so we don’t know if that important thing is actually real.

For me, if a sitter looks relaxed and happy, or relaxed and thoughtful, then I’m probably happy with it.

This is one of my favorite portraits of my father:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210117/3afc14e4fb60b570ae5a3c49f48b91f7.jpg

But you had to know the story to appreciate it. Everyone who does laughs.

This one of him didn’t require a story:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210117/f5a2fbc26bbf14fb95215f45d4950806.jpg

It’s just a picture of a man, maybe not too technically flawed, but nothing special, really. But it made my sister cry.

How much does the subject make the photo? And how much of what people take from it is real? I don’t know any more.

Rick “he passed in January 3” Denney

[Tin Can]

Good points Rick, may our fathers rest in peace

and a good use of a thread

Here is a 1938 pro shot of my father and my first ever 4X5 shot handheld Speed Graphic 1998, borrowed camera, next LF was when I joined here. He passed 2008

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50845537067_2cc9c6deb8_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kt3EJP)Father 1938 (https://flic.kr/p/2kt3EJP) by TIN CAN COLLEGE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincancollege/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50844718258_83dc4d5c16_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2ksYtkq)Father 1998 (https://flic.kr/p/2ksYtkq) by TIN CAN COLLEGE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincancollege/), on Flickr

[jnantz]

I know this is the LF forum and all but I don't really differentiate portraits by their formats. I just like looking at portraits, love looking at photographs of people, not sure why, its fun cause we are a species of really weird looking animals. Personally, I can't really tell if something was taken with an iPhone or 8x10 sheet of film ( and I'm OK with that ). I remember a photographer well known to this forum who used to frame some of his digital images with notch coded film. I like stories behind photos not so much knowing the gear behind the photos, although sometimes the gear is the story.

[Bernice Loui]

Why is any portrait done? What gives any portrait image meaning?

Having done portraits of many with many film formats and digital. It is lesser about the image recording method, it is much about trying to capturing some expressive aspect of the portrait sitter. The result is can vary from the artist-photographer trying to share some aspect of the portrait sitters personality to using the portrait sitter as a prop meet the artist-photographer's expressive intent.


This portrait was made some years ago.. what does it mean
(and no means of digital image sharing can transmit what this image looks like as a print) ?
211545


How this LF portrait was made camera wise.
211546


Near identical image result could have been achieved using a roll film or digital image recording format instead of a view camera..


Bernice

[Tin Can]

I vastly prefer to shoot people in any format, not easy at all

I try to set stage ahead of time

My model is no longer available, ever again

Here are my 2 best, one 11X14 and the other D750, both would have been impossible without the camera/lens/format used

I had her in constant motion with one and the other still and calm

Each took 20 minutes, after we drank wine and talked for hours

5 long years ago, I am weeping

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50845311183_49437904db_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kt2vAg)E XRay2x11x14crop (https://flic.kr/p/2kt2vAg) by TIN CAN COLLEGE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincancollege/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50846168262_99cd5a55e0_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kt6Unu)E Best Color (https://flic.kr/p/2kt6Unu) by TIN CAN COLLEGE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincancollege/), on Flickr

[Paul Ron]

i love the effect in the b&w.

[otto.f]

i love the effect in the b&w.

Me too, great portrait. If you ask me why, I would a day or two to find the words which wouldn’t be too clichee

[Tin Can]

Thanks guys, the SF image was conceived as homage of Josephine Baker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Baker)

She often wore real pearls, I bought fakes just for this shoot

Too bad she had to go to Paris...

The sitter is an American hero

[Pat Kearns]

In 1959 Karsh published Portraits of Greatness, a giant step forward in reproduction of fine photographs. Karsh closely monitored the publication to ensure the best possible quality. The printing was done in the Netherlands and is far better than any other book of that time that I've seen. The pages measure about 9.4x12 inches, and can easily be removed for framing. They are sheet fed gravure with a delicate matte finish. The first edition is still occasionally available online for a wide range of prices. I don't know if subsequent reprints have retained such quality.

I picked up a signed copy of, Portraits of Greatness, about two years ago at an estate sale that is a Third printing edition. Not having seen a first printing edition, the quality of the third printing is first rate and the tonal ranges are incredible.

I usually see portraits in museums and galleries. About 8 or 10 years ago, A Gallery for Fine Photography, in New Orleans had terrific show of very large prints by Karsh. Seeing Karsh original prints is a treasure to behold. When ever my wife and I drive over to New Orleans the first place we visit is, A Gallery. We are both drawn to the Edward S. Curtis' images from, The North American Indian, and Joshua has a number of Curtis' Portfolio Gravure's images. If you ever find yourself in New Orleans, A Gallery is a must see.