This is a portrait of my little girl, captured in April 2019. She is just at the age where she is learning to read and I wanted to capture the moment in her life when books were a way of entering a magical wonderland.

For decades we have been using cameras to document important moments in our lifetime – weddings, new babies, birthdays and special occasions. If the goal is to simply remember a time or a moment, then it’s easy to point and shoot so we get a visual reminder. A portrait is something a little different though. I always explain to our families during our in-home photography sessions that if I were painting their portrait, what would we bother to put in and what would we leave out?

What really is a portrait?

Portraiture is a very old art form and dates back to at least Egyptian times, more than 5,000 years ago. Traditionally, a painting or a sculpture was the only way in which to record someone’s likeness and it was a very expensive endeavour. The most successful portrait artists were the ones who could flatter their subjects and show them in a way that was pleasing or aspirational – powerful, wealthy and handsome. Not surprisingly, it was only the wealthy and powerful who could afford to commission such a venture.

“A portrait is a representation of a particular person... portraits have always been more than just a record. They have been used to show the power, importance, virtue, beauty, wealth, taste, learning or other qualities of the sitter...”

— tate.org.uk

The Milkmaid – c.1658, This seemingly innocuous image is a masterpiece of lighting and composition.

Portraits & photography

As time moved on, somewhere around the 1600s, portraits became more about the general human existence; regular folk and the happenings of day-to-day life. Artists began to see there were stories to be told in the little moments.

During the 17th century, my personal favourite artist Johannes Vermeer painted masterpieces such as The Milkmaid, The Girl With the Wine Glass, The Girl With the Pearl Earring and more, which gave the viewer a glimpse into a scene of daily life.

With images such as these growing more popular, it was not surprising that a less formal and natural style began to filter its way down the line into personally commissioned portraiture.

Some two centuries later, the camera and the photograph were invented. The technology was basic, with exposures taking up to a minute! To have a chance of capturing a remotely sharp image, people had to stay very, very still.

During the late 1800s, photographers were well known to have used posing stands – which looked a bit like hat or coat stands – and people stood against them or leaned on them to limit the movement of the subject. This made the classic Victorian family portraits very stiff and posed – a trend that curiously seems to still exist today.

Photography was still developing (pun intended) as an art form and the accessibility of a camera/studio to the general public was turbo-charging the rise of the photographic era.

Old vs new

The process for capturing a photograph and developing it was still fairly time consuming and costly, so the approach to image creation remained very much the same – an intentional representation and not just a quick snapshot. A photo took some setting up and required thought, much like the portraits of old.

Fast forward to today, we all have access to amazing cameras 24/7, which need little to no thought to use. If I am attending a once-in-a-lifetime event, enjoying a night out with some friends or simply just having a great meal, I can whip out the camera on my phone and capture it. There is zero processing cost or effort (and much to the detriment of the rest of the world, who doesn’t want to see my spaghetti bolognese).

Casual, natural portraits are older than you think…

Zenaide and Charlotte Bonaparte, 19th Century – by Jaques Louis.

As a photographer, I love to capture classic portraits, but for families I feel it is preferable to capture them when they are at their most relaxed and it is how people like to see themselves most of the time.

You’d be forgiven if this was a new or modern idea though – during the 18th century, the informal, natural and casual style of portrait was very popular. It featured groups of people interacting as if the viewer were there, looking through a window or even part of the moment. It was a very different direction to the classical and posed style that preceded it.

Some say that the rise of the digital camera – giving the ability to easily capture a photograph in the hands of the general public – has ruined the industry, but I disagree. Like Vermeer, everybody now has the opportunity to capture everyday moments, and like the Victorians, they can document their family without requiring a disturbing posing stand.

People can now celebrate family and togetherness. It is well known that families who display photos of themselves around their home have a deeper sense of this togetherness and their children grow up feeling loved and empowered with what it means to be a cohesive family.

‘Inseparable’ - ©Grain&Weave - portrait by John.

Creating layers to tell stories

I know that when I’m looking at photos of my family, the images I enjoy the most are the ones that remind me of a specific feeling as well as a time.

When I was a little boy, I worked out that I could easily get around my mum with a cheeky smile – it worked every time – and unsurprisingly, any photo that had that particular expression was always the one that my mum loved the most, as it defined my whole childhood.

If I was to create a portrait of my late grandfather, which sadly is not possible, I would certainly have him surrounded by the hundreds of tatty old music books he had – maybe including his old 1970s hammond organ that he used to play every single day. Of course, it would be a picture of him, but atop the organ would be a book, opened to the page with his favourite song that he always started with. He would be wearing the old slippers my nan bought him 15 years before and he would certainly not be smiling, as he was a very serious, but loving, man.

So I ask you, if you were creating a portrait of someone you know, what would you bother to paint in and what would you leave out?