Organic Photography, Or Why Studio Portraits Aren’t For Everyone

A supermarket tomato looks like a tomato until you taste it at which time it reveals what it is: a verisimilitude tomato, not a tomato. Whatever the goods or services, there will always be a point beyond which operational efficiencies destroy the essence of what attracted you to them.

Studio photography is operationally efficient. The background is controlled, a coloured drop sheet. Unlike a person’s home, this background tells you nothing about the person. Studio lighting is controlled, spot lights stand in for the sun and if photography is the study of light then the use of studio lights may be akin to photocopying.
How does a person in a photography studio behave? This depends on whether it is their working environment or not. A photographic model will be comfortable because this is their milieu but for the normal person, it is an alien environment with an anonymous setting, harsh lighting and time pressure. The normal person does their best and smiles at the camera when told. But just as you can’t buy happiness, you can’t force smiles.

Since true photographic portraiture is about revealing a person’s humanity, by its very nature it is operationally slow. A person is not a light, turning on instantly at the flick of a switch. Instead, a person must feel acknowledged as a human before they can be themselves and this requires engagement. Cups of tea and a chat helps! Once engaged, the portrait photographer can then reveal the person.

Portrait photography is a continuum with passport photography at one end and a lengthy photo essay over weeks or months at the other end. Unfortunately, studio photography is too close to passport photography since it is operationally efficient to the point where it is unlikely to reveal a person’s character. For this reason, location photographic portraiture, which may take several hours, should always prevail if someone wants a true portrait of themselves.

Like most things in life, with photography you get what you pay for. If you are happy with the supermarket tomato, the more expensive organic tomato would be a waste of money. Similarly with photography, location portrait photography is not for everyone but for those that value it, they and their family will have an exceptional memento. As my granny used to say, quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.

John Slaytor’s portraiture may be found at http://www.johnslaytor.com.au/portraits.html

I am a professional photographer who finds it difficult to narrow my photographic interest. My range of work includes Macedonian Weddings and Christenings, Nigerian 21st Birthday parties, Presbyterian and Catholic funerals, Indian and Greek family portraits, Chinese and Ghanaian football supporters, Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps and Sydney Opera House.