Portraits
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What is a portrait?
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It is usually a depiction of a person or people. Often it is a photograph, frequently a painting, and nearly always it is a portrayal of humanity. Portraits generally aim to capture an individual’s likeness or essence in addition to a mood created by the setting. Some might appear at first lackluster, but upon further consideration reveal aspects relatable, frightening, thought-provoking, or disturbing. They may incite ambiguity either frustrating or delightful.
Must a portrait physically depict a visual representation of a person’s bodily form, facial profile or otherwise? Of course not. A peruser, if he looks hard enough, will find displays of portraiture in various mediums not only on canvas or printed, but etched fleetingly across daily encounters. In observing the capture of a single moment in time, never to be experienced in exactness again, interpretations are boundless. The true meaning of a creation, some believe, lies within the intent of the artist, while thinkers of other schools ascertain that it is the observer who gives a work of art life.
We may look upon a highly-detailed Renaissance painting and spend centuries reading a young woman’s expression, debating fruitlessly her enigmatic smile and her place in the world. Or we may read an excerpt of a tale, one that provides a snapshot of a scenario to serve as a glimpse into the life, mannerisms, tendencies, and inclinations of the character(s) involved. In either portrayal, we are shown one version of a person, through a perspective from which only certain facets are visible and of the others assumptions must be extrapolated.
As with any work of art, one viewer may see a piece in one light while his neighbor gazes upon it under a differently angled shadow. Each individual's weltanschauung, the tints in one's glasses colored by qualia, may not be experienced by another.
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This series contains a range of style choices, from traditional to abstract, personal to vignette, staged to candid. It is an introduction to an idea meant to invoke thought.
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