Viewers of a portrait should see more than just a recognizable photograph of someone. The picture must contain mood, personality and character, allowing the viewer to draw conclusions about the person in the portrait.
You may have heard someone remark that a particular photographer “really captured” someone in a picture. They are referring in part to the image being a true physical likeness, but also reveals a significant, identifiable part of the subject’s character.
We all reveal our feelings and attitudes differently. Some of us may show our individual character with immediate transparency, while others may be more difficult to “read” at first.
The portrait photographer must become proficient at studying people whom he or she doesn’t know in order to capture their essence. This means watching for signals in a subject’s mannerism, reactions, expressions, body language and then judging how best to have the subject’s character revealed for the camera.
This takes skill and an understanding of human nature. It almost always requires engaging the subject in conversation, and quickly finding a suitable topic that will grab her or his interest and evoke a reaction.