Portraiture - A Forgotten Art
Derek Smith • 20 August 2022
George Hammond
Photo By: Studio Photographer
Foster Mother
Photo By: Studio Photographer
A Woman and Two Children
Photo By: Studio Photographer
Fleur
Photo by: Derek Smith
As 21st century photographers, have we forgotten the art of portraiture?
Wander around any stately house, or indeed any art gallery, and you will find many portrait paintings, always posed with fine details, usually posed against a dark background, looking fairly solemn, and very often with symbols of their power, prestige, or their achievements in life. As an example, think of Sir Francis Drake, he circumnavigated the world, so his portrait illustrates the point by posing him with a hand resting on a globe of the world.
Fast forward to the late 19th century, and early 20th century when photography became available, initially more affluent members of the public paid to have a professional photographic portrait taken, usually posed in the photographers studio. Professional photography progressed, becoming more accessible, and more affordable, with photographic studios opening in every town. More people were able to be photographed, again posed, and in a studio, often the photo was printed onto a post card, for posting on to friends, and relatives. This is the time when we began to see our own ancestors immortalised in the photographic medium, grandfathers in uniform before going to war, aunts, and uncles, mothers, fathers all professionally photographed, printed, and prized.
With the advent of the Brownie box camera, and film in rolls, photography became available to the masses, and everyone was in a photograph somewhere. With mobile phones we are now the most photographed generation that has ever lived. With the ubiquity of images all around us do we prize, and cherish those images, as we once did, or have those images become just a part of the tapestry of our lives, fleeting, and disposable?
As hobbyist photographers how do we feel about taking portraits? Portraiture is certainly one of the least popular genres in competitions, and poorly represented. Personally I find a certain satisfaction in creating a portrait, the choice of natural or artificial lighting, the pose itself, and being able to show the character of the subject, and I enjoy that interaction between me, the photographer, and the model.
Photographed here firstly is a portrait of my great-grandfather, George Hammond, he was a senior London Fire Brigade officer stationed at Bow, he had been presented with medals for bravery in rescuing 2 people from a burning building in Stoke Newington, he is pictured in full dress uniform so perhaps the photo was taken during the awards ceremony. Secondly, from my late father-in-laws collection, a post card image from the early twentieth century, on the reverse of the card is the photographers name, and address, and in pencil the words "foster mother". Thirdly another early twentieth century posed photo, again from my late father-in-laws collection, the pose with the two children, and the costumes of the children, and the woman are very dated by modern standards. Lastly is a portrait of a model Fleur, whom I've worked with before, taken on location sorely in natural light.
Louth Photographic Society
Good Morning All Last week we visited the nature reserves at Fir Hill quarry and Muckton wood. I have written a blog report on the evening which is on our website. You can always try something a little different like I did using camera movement. This week, Wednesday 24th June, a print competition will be held, with the categories of "Trees" and "Open" and is to be judged by Gail Wrigg. The following week we have an outing to Kirkby Gravel pits. If you want advice on camera settings etc the outings are the perfect opportunity to ask other members while we all have our cameras. Regards Graham
Each year Louth Photographic Society begins a new project, one photo taken each month on a specific subject, that's 12 photos presented on "Project Night" in January. Last year the subject was "Prime Time" one photo each month taken with the same fixed focal length lens. This year the subject is water, the subject sounds easy enough, and I've completed 5 photos already, but I'm struggling a little with a photo for June. I'm currently on holiday in Corfu, an island surrounded by water which should be easy, but I'm yet to find the "definitive" photo for the project. These are my photos so far this month: Best regards Derek
Good Evening All
Summer is here at last, maybe?
Last night a few of our members had an outing to Old Bolingbroke village. Initially visiting the Lincolnshire Wildlife Reserve of Sow Dale, off Spilsby Hill at the village entrance, I was a little hesitant at first at entering the reserve because of the grazing cattle. When the cattle herd moved up the hill we climbed over the stile and entered the reserve, as we began to take some photos around the reserve though, the herd returned, but seemed quite docile. Later in the evening we moved on to Bolingbroke castle, and took several photos of the castle, fauna, and flora. It was a lovely evening, good to get out with cameras, and socialise with others.
Good Morning All Last week I went to the Lincoln cathedral to see Queen by candlelight, a great night of music and some different lighting in the cathedral. Last week at the club we held our 1 st round of the LPA Battles against Grimsby and Scunthorpe. Members from the two other clubs attended making it a very full room with some excellent photography on show. Scunthorpe won on 255 points, Louth 2 nd with 250 points and Grimsby 3 rd with 245 points. This week there is a 2 nd round LPA Battle at Grantham on Tuesday evening, if any member wants to attend, please contact me for more details. We did decide to have an outing on Wednesday 10th June, I had thought of Donna Nook, but Derek has come up with another idea, Sow Dale and if time permits Bolingbroke Castle both out Horncastle way. Derek is going to see if it's worth visiting Sow Dale and will let us know. Don't forget to send your print titles to Dave Turner. Regards Graham
It was the LPA Battles last night, with Louth hosting Scunthorpe, and Grimsby. Diane Seddon was the judge for the evening, and gave excellent critique of all the the prints presented to her from the three clubs. Our club room was packed with our members, and representatives from Scunthorpe, and Grimsby clubs. At the break the points scores appeared fairly evenly matched. However, it was the highest scoring prints that swung the competition in favour of Scunthorpe, their still life prints of "Sunflowers", and "Weights and Measures" scored 20 points each, taking their cumulative score to a winning 255 points. None of Louth's prints achieved 20 points, but ended with a respectable 250 points. Grimsby produced some strong prints, "The Road to Talmont", and "What's Your Name?" received 20 points each, their overall score was 245 points. As Diane Seddon said the submitted print entries were of a very good standard, resulting in a closely matched contest. Congratulations to Scunthorpe for securing the lead in this LPA Battle round contest.
Good Morning All I did go to Chambers wood last week, not too much around but the Marsh Fritillaries are back again in the meadow. We had a good turnout for the meal on Friday, hope you all enjoyed it, thank you to my partner Jane for organising all the food orders. Everything went to plan until the chef dropped the roulade, hopefully your replacement was just as good. This week we have our first round of the LPA Battles against Grimsby and Scunthorpe. The judge for the evening is Diane Seddon. There should be a good turnout for this one with the other two clubs attending. The print competition with the categories of "Trees" and "Open" is to be held on the 24th of June, please email Dave Turner your titles and then bring your prints in on the night. Regards Graham
It’s been a fairly mundane May photography wise for me. I’ve visited Gibraltar Point, Messingham Sand Quarry, and Far Ings nature reserves, and taken some reasonable photos, but nothing really competition quality. The West Lindsey Open Churches Festival has been on for a couple of weekends, and I climbed the bell tower at St Peter, Scotter, had lunch at Kirton in Lindsey, and dropped in on a couple of churches in Caistor. My model photography has taken a back seat, I’ve not had a model shoot all of this month, I’ve had enquiries from a couple of models that I’ve worked with before, but not been able to arrange anything. Instead, I’ve been concentrating on wildlife, landscapes, and insect photography. My OM Systems cameras have been with me every day, the OM-5 is my daily carry, and the OM-1 is my heavy hitter, especially with the OM 100-400mm lens, or the 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens. I’m continuing to take images for the “Water” project, that’s one image of water for each month, providing twelve images to show on “Project Night” in January 2027. The May photo is an indoor creative image taken on a wet day. The trees, and horses were taken at Gibraltar Point, the Heron, and swans were at Messingham Sand Quarry.
Good Morning, All, Last week at the club we held our monthly competition, a PDI competition, with the categories of "Landscapes with Water" and "Open", there was a very good entry with a high standard of photography. Congratulations go to Tony Gaskins for 1 st place in the Landscapes with Water and Paul Twomey for 1 st place in the Open. The results are on our website with the winning images. This week there is no meeting on Wednesday as it's our annual meal on the Friday. For those attending it's at the Royal Oak (Splash) Little Cawthorpe, to meet up around 7pm for meal at around 7.30pm. For those doing the water project, it's getting towards the end of the month if you haven't already taken your photograph. Regards Graham
