Evening star., 1950-04-02
Camera Angles
Character
Y Alexander J. Wedderburn
Curator Of Photography
The Smiths oman Institution

There is character in the face
OF every man. 1t may denote
goodness or the embodiment of
evil or it may be symbolic Of a
way Of life. Character portraiture
with the camera is simply an at
tempt to set down Photographic
cally some trait or symbol which
we may perceive in an individual.
This differs somewhat from
ordinary portrait photography in
that the latter is usually an at
tempt to record a recognizable
likeness Of q person. In ordinary
portrait photography. all sorts of
trickery with lights and retouch-
ing Is resorted to for the express
purpose of flattery. The resulting
picture then, though it may be
pleasing to the subject. may reveal
little, If any, of his true character.
Some faces are more expressive
Of character than others. This
may be due to strong lines or
planes, facileneSs of expression or
because of conformity to a gen.
orally accepted pattern of what
certain type OF person should look
like. We run across examples of
this last instance every time we 60 |
to the movies. We see types" Sc
1ected by casting directors who
are known as character actors.
The man who plays the wealthy
broker is accepted Immediately as
such because he represents that
particular type Of character as
does the actor who plays the part
Of the Irish cop on the beat. They
look the part and you will have
noticed that these actors usually
are typed" in 4 particular role
and play them over and over
again.
Persons Typify Accepted Roles.
Even on the street we will no
tice . person who "looks" the
part Of q clergyman, a doctor,
villain or some such other
character" You have probably
typed certain OF your friends and
acquaintances In this manner
either consciously or subconscious-
ly. Therefore, If Joe looks the part
Of an undertaken, you might we'll
Use him for such a character
study. On the other hand you
would hardly find the same man
useful to portray the part of a
comedian.
In other words you will have to
f1nd subjects who will make your
character studies actually live and
look the part you are trying to
portray. If you would try your
hand at this branch of portraiture
we suggest that you follow one of
two plans. Either study those
persons who would be available for
models and determine what type
Of character they could con-
vincingly portray or make a list
Of ideas as they occur to you for
character studies and then look
about for models who could fill
the part.
Lighting and Costuming Skill.
OF late years it has become a |
too common practice to seize upon
any elderly man with flowing
beard, photograph him and call
the picture q character portrait
For my money whiskers are out.
All such possibilities have long
since been exhausted and I feel
that the idea Of the beard is moth
ing more than an admission OF
lack Of originality. The same ap-
plies to the now stale idea of
dressing up your young boy in a
frayed straw hat and adding an
obviously phony stick as simu-
lated fishing rod.
Still, there are many new ideas
and faces that can be combined
by clever photographer to
achieve interesting character por-
traits. Few models are tailormade
to properly interpret an idea, but
skillful lighting and costuming can
make up the difference. II you
have what you think is good
idea. but don't find the right |
model at hand, wait until the right |
one comes along-even If you have