Thursday Post 9-25-08

Portrait

“Most of our modern portrait painters are doomed to absolute oblivion. They never paint what they see. They paint what the public sees, and the public never sees anything.”
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet and dramatist.
http://en.proverbia.net/citastema.asp?tematica=920

Birt, Michael; Greer, Fergus. Portaits: The World’s Top Photographers and the Stories Behind Their Greatest Images. RotoVision: East Sussex, 2003.

Part of the series of “greatest hits” books which feature the world’s greatest professionals in a specific line of work, this book puts in-depth interviews which share the tips, secrets, and anecdotes of the those who are considered the world’s greatest portrait photographers, alongside some of their greatest photographs. This list of artists includes Richard Avedon, Annie Liebowitz, Irving Penn, Terry Richardson, and David LaChappelle. The author, Fergus Greer, has done photography for books, editorials, and advertisements. His clientele includes Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine.

The word “portrait” relates to my work because each image that I create revolves around the person and they’re tattoo. Some tattoos lend themselves to act more as symbols than involve the person in a portrait, but there are definitely others, that inevitably lead to a the creation of a portrait. Whether that portrait depicts a reality in their life, or their “spirit” as Paul would say, they are most definitely portraits.