Portrait Photography - Part Three

Once again, let us move strait into the examination of some wonderfully done portrait photographs:

Duane Michals

On the surface, this images appears to be a lot more simple than several of my last posts.  However, for all that I tend to enjoy complexity and detail, I know the importance of clarity and simplicity.  The skull in this photograph offers a chilling counterpoint to the live man holding it.  If there was a complicated background, or other elements besides the strangely positioned man and the skull, I think the photograph would lose a lot of its power.

Lucas Samaras

Samaras has done many strange and interesting things with his portrait photography, though often the end result is very disturbing,  This particular photograph, like most of Samaras' work, has been highly manipulated.  Much of the artist's work features motion blurring, or another form of hazy, waving motion.  Here, this sets the man's face apart wonderfully, making the viewer focus on the subject while allowing the painterly swirls to play in the corners of their eyes.

-Kelly F.