THE FINE ART OF PORTRAITURE

TECHNIQUE

All images © Tim Clinch

TH E A RT O F P O RT R AIT U R E

With a lifetime of people photography to draw on, Tim Clinch questions the portrait genre’s fundamentals and suggests a few addendums of his own to further clarif y what it means to capture someone’s likeness.

efore we begin,

Bit is important that we define what we mean by a portrait. The dictionary definition is: ‘a painting, drawing, photograph, or engraving of a person, especially one depicting only the face or head and shoulders’.

I think we would all agree with that, but I would add a few caveats. For me, in order to be described as a portrait rather than reportage or street photography, there has to be some sort of relationship between the sitter and the photographer. To be considered a portrait, the subject of the picture must be aware that they are being photographed. This can be fleeting. The quick question, ‘Can I take your picture please?’ can be enough to establish eye contact, but it is often essential. Can a candid picture shot in a food market without the subject’s knowledge be considered a portrait? For me, no. This is not to say that it is not a good picture, not at all, it’s simply not a portrait.

The next caveat is the clause: ‘…especially one depicting only the face or head and shoulders’. In a lifetime in photography I have been commissioned to shoot a lot of pictures of people, both famous and otherwise. Sometimes they have been close-ups of a face, or a head and shoulders, but often they have been of people involved with their work, or in their workplace, and usually shot full length.

‘There has to be some sort of relationship between the sitter and the photographer.’

Above French chef Michel Gerard in his kitchen at his Michelin three-star restaurant in Eugénie-les-Bains. I posed him at the front and had the staff moving around and working behind him. Opposite Chef and owner of the iconic St John restaurant Fergus Henderson shot for the Independent. Fergus is a quirky character and I love the negative space in this and the notice I left in the top corner.

One of the commissioning editors who had a great influence on me when I started working for the Sunday colour supplements back in the 1980s was an amazing gentleman called Colin Jacobson, the picture editor of the Observer Magazine. Back then, these magazines were pretty much the pinnacle of the photographic tree and were what most photographers aspired to. When I first went to the Observer to show Colin my work I was in the middle of a personal project about farm workers in Cornwall. Colin looked at my images (all shot on large-format colour transparency and all involving old men, mud and tractors), looked up at me and uttered a phrase which has stayed with me to this day: ‘Hmm, old retainers with their utensils’. Luckily, he liked them and we enjoyed a wonderful working relationship which lasted for many years. So, the head and shoulders, and the person in their environment: both, in my mind, portraits.

The next vexed question is around eye contact. Is it essential in a portrait? To my mind, definitely not. When I am shooting a portrait I will often ask my subject to look away from the camera. This can often add something and make the picture stronger. Lack of eye contact often adds a feeling of vulnerability to a portrait. As in all aspects of your photography, you will only find out if you try.

Top Shot for an exhibition I had in Sofia in Bulgaria. Called Portrait of a Village it was done to raise money for a new roof for the community centre in my village and consisted of a series of photographs of the inhabitants and their friendly faces. All shot with a very narrow depth of field to avoid distraction from the background.

Below Food writer Claudia Roden in her home in London, shot for Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz. Shot using daylight. Note how although she is not looking directly at the camera her eye is perfectly sharp.

Top left and right Shots for the exhibition I had in Sofia in Bulgaria called Portrait of a Village. All shot with a very narrow depth of field to avoid distraction from the background. Below left This illustrates the importance of having a black background. This gentleman was picking grapes in a vineyard in the Côtes du Rhône in France on a hot and windy day. We clipped the background to the shady side of his van, added a reflector and got this strong portrait, which I love. Below right A wonderful strong matriarch in the Carpathian Mountains in Western Ukraine. A mother of 13, she cooked us a memorable lunch after which I asked if I could take her portrait. Strong cropping and a shallow depth of field emphasise that smile. And those gold teeth!

Above Wine maker Sylvie Esmonin and her dog Justy in Gevrey-Chambertin in Burgundy. This was shot at the height of the wine harvest, Sylvie was tired, hot and busy so we set the shot up in advance, called her over when we were ready and got the shot in about two minutes.

HINTS AND TIPS

Be careful of getting too close with a wideangle lens as this will distort the face. Obviously, if this is what you are trying to achieve, fine. I once took a portrait of the much-missed comedian and actor Rik Mayall very close up on a very wideangle lens, but as he was well known for his facial contortions and ‘gurning’ it worked well and made the cover of the magazine. Otherwise, for head and shoulders or close-up pictures, I would use a standard 50mm, or a slightly longer 85mm on a full-frame DSLR.

Secondly, it’s all about the eyes. Shallow depth of field is wonderful and can make for great portraits, but whether your subject is looking at you or gazing wistfully off into the distant horizon, make absolutely sure that the eyes (or at least one eye) are pinsharp. They are, after all, the window of the soul.

For a close-up, backgrounds can be anything as long as they don’t distract. It’s a portrait and the subject is your sitter so don’t let anything get in the way, and remember the power that a shallow depth of field can give. For a wider portrait of the ‘old retainer’ type, make sure that the background you choose is relevant and, again, don’t let anything take your eye away from the star of your photo.

Something I never travel anywhere without, and has been an ever-present in the boot of my car for many years, is a length of black velvet and a few sturdy clips. Invaluable for shooting portraits on the go, you can clip it anywhere, stand your subject in front of it and, hey presto, you’ve got yourself a studio.

As for cropping, especially when shooting a head and shoulders, the age old rule is fill the frame and be bold.

Top left Madame Dubordieu, the bean lady. A regular at my local market when I lived in France, I visited her at her home and set up this simple but effective portrait. I would hesitate to call her an ‘old retainer’ but it is of the genre. Top right Chicken farmer Christine LaMartine with one of her birds. As always, shot in the shade. Below left Pig farmer Jacques Chapolard in Gascony. I moved him out of the direct sunlight into the entrance to a barn and posed him against some non-distracting hay bales. Below right Shot for the exhibition I had in Sofia in Bulgaria called Portrait of a Village. All shot with a very narrow depth of field to avoid distraction from the background.