Portraiture

A Portrait is a photo that focuses on one or more people and their personality.At first, Portraits were painted and only affordable for the rich and powerful. But when technology improved and cameras got more portable, it became easier to take photos and thus, easier to make portraits.

The relation between artist and sitter

Painting
In a painting, the subject has control over how the finished painting will make them look.

Photograph
In photography, the photographer has control over how the subject appears.

Diane Arbus
She was a famous portrait photographer who look pictures of people that society called "freaks" such as dwarfs, giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers or just people who seem ugly or odd. As a result, she was referred to as the "Photographer of Freaks". Like a few other famous photographers, she took photos of the subject when they are unprepared to "show their true nature".

Photo taken when child lost his patience with Diane

One day she got an unusual request from the wealthy Matthaeii family to make portraits of them. When doing this, she focused on the children of the family to expose what they thought about their rich lifestyle.

Marcella Matthaei