The past and present

The main differences and similarities that I find in the art of early days and the art in portraits today are the focus of the main image. I think that a lot of the earlier portraits are of a single woman or man that is representing an image that either they are rich or poor. When I think of portrait photographs from earlier days I think of a black and white photo of a woman or man alone. Portraits now are more vibrant and lively than before. They include a happy story to them and allow for the viewer to get a different sense of what the model is feeling.

I find that a major difference in the subjects of the pictures now are that portraits taken from the past are more to give off an image of what that character was like, show them in deep thought or something that would give off a strong image. Portraits nowadays are a lot for beauty shots and to be at peace with a person. The subjects of the images now are not always famous people, but are poor people working in a village to show their hardship, or are little children playing and captured a shot of their beauty.

The photographer of the past is someone who has actually studied photography and who has devoted their life to creating images for others to view. The photographer of today is anyone with a camera that has a steady hand to capture an image that can be seen differently through different viewers.

This is a portrait of Albert Einstein and I think that it is powerful in that he looks like he is thinking and working and this image displays so many emotions in just a single shot.

Yousuf Karsh - photographer

Portrait of Albert Einstein
photographed by Yousuf Karsh in 1948

I think that it is easier now to capture a quality photo than before as well. Now I think a lot of the best photos are ones that are not planned and that capture the reality of the model who is in the picture.

Winston Churchill by Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh is a photographer that used to be a master with the lighting in the studio. He worked in Ottawa and was very close with the prime minister who took a very strong liking to him once he began to display his photographs. Karsh published 15 books with his works in them and portraits were his specialty.

I find a lot of the portraits today to be more "classy" than the portraits of the past. I think this mostly because people now are dressed up nicely, the images are less black and white to give off power, people in the portrait photos I find don't generally smile and always have just a stern face.

Technology has obviously played a huge role in the portraits of the past and today. The advancements in technology have become so much greater than before with the invention of a digital camera which allows you to distort the image before you even take the picture, or photography software that allows you to change all different aspects of the photo and then alter the image some more. There are different lightings, shadings and backgrounds now available for photos and the ideas are endless.

References

http://www.twinisles.com/greats/karsh.htm