Photography Articles & Tips
Portraiture: the Pleasure of Knowing People
By Len Bernstein
When I read these magnificently kind sentences by Eli Siegel
my heart and my perception were stirred, and I knew I would
never see people in the same way again. They are from one
of a series of lectures he gave in 1951 on H.G. Wells' The
Outline of History:
[T]he very great technician, Nature, while working in a space of not more than twenty-five inches or so--that is, the human face--has come to have so many faces, feminine and masculine, child and adult. They are all different. We can assume that every Paleolithic face was different, also Neolithic, also Roman face, Chinese face, Greek face, Mesopotamian face; and just how it's done is remarkable. Any person trying to imagine five hundred faces will find it very hard, but somehow Nature has been able to have a tremendous variety, an inconceivable variety, in that field--which has to do with the relation of variety and oneness.
The
implications of this beautiful description are far reaching.
Where the difference of others has been used to wipe out our
common humanity, here it makes for soaring wonder and respect.
This way of seeing can only make for self-respect.
And, as a photographer, I know it also makes for endless picture
possibilities and the unique vision we hope to convey in our
work.
Assignment: Find out
how your subject hopes to be seen . . .
First, ask yourself, with or without your camera, "How
much time during the course of a day do I spend thinking about
myself, and how much time do I spend thinking about other
people?" If you're anything like I was, you spend
more time on your own thoughts than on others' (and when we
do think of someone else, it's usually in relation to us!)
Second, the next time you take someone's portrait, ask them
the kind question suggested by Eli Siegel: "What quality
would you like to represent you in a photograph?" Three
things will happen, if you ask with sincerity: 1) You'll have
a good effect on another person, 2) The privilege of trying
to understand how another person hopes to be seen will be
yours, and 3) You may make a photograph that is fair to the
person and you can be proud of forever.
About the author:
Len Bernstein is an American photographer who has
studied the history of the medium for 30 years,
using the Aesthetic Realism of Eli Siegel as his
critical basis. He began his study of Aesthetic
Realism in consultations and, seeing its tremendous
value, attended classes with Eli Siegel, in preparation
to become a consultant. His study continues in classes
taught by Ellen Reiss at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation,
a not-for-profit educational foundation in New York
City (www.AestheticRealism.org).
Mr. Bernstein's articles on the relation of art
and ethics have appeared in The Journal of the Print
World and England's Photographica World. His photographs
are in many private and public collections including
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Bibliothèque
nationale de France. His work can also be viewed
at www.LenBernstein.com