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Why I Learned Classic Portraiture: An Interview With Riff
Last month, Rob discussed classic portraiture and its place in modern photography. This month we focus on a well-known member, Riff, who discusses why he studied classic portraiture.
"For myself, because I never had a formal photography education it was very important to me to know the "rules" of portraiture. By knowing the rules, I knew that I'd be able to create good portraits consistently instead of just getting the occasional happy accident. Classic portraiture didn't start with photographers and cameras but way back when the painting masters were putting brush to canvas and before them the master sculturists. They studied lighting and posing because they were required to flatter their subjects who commissioned them.
I felt like I was starting at a disadvantage because of my lack of knowledge so I very consciously sought out this information. I found out about Monte Zucker and Joe Zeltsman. I bought books and videos. On the forum, Mark Hamilton gave me an incredible week long "class" and gave me homework every night. After that, I went to the Dominican Republic to study more in depth with Mark.
Now that I've learned a lot of the rules and how to best flatter my subjects with appropriate posing and lighting as well as minimizing any flaws they might have, I'm able to apply that to my own style which is still evolving. Hopefully, I know exactly what I'm doing if I choose to break a rule. Or if I forget something, I will see it later when I'm reviewing the session and hopefully remember to get it right next time.
With photography, there's so many possibilities and so much to explore. The artists of the past have built the foundation and now we can continue to build on that to create images that not only flatter, but also have impact and emotion. However, it all starts with making the client look their best. As long as people want to look good, classic portraiture will be alive and well.