Portrait – Visual Identity of a Person
Abstract
Portrait is a very sought out and popular genre of photography, and not only at the present time. This was the case even in the times of photographers that could be described as pioneers in portrait photography as such. Nadar, Disdéri, and others popularized this medium and predestined its dominant role in society when the celebrities of that time came to gather in their ateliers. Over time, an artist’s approach towards photographed subjects has also changed. Besides physical traits, a photographer also tries to capture something “behind” all this. In this paper, we address not only an analysis of interpretation points of view during the process of portrayal or its social function, but also a clarification of what an identity in portrait photography means and how it is reflected. We also enter the context of media, where human identity adjusts itself to a universal model, the so-called beauty myth, is abused and presented in the form of artificial icons and sex symbols. On the basis of theoretical grounds and the content analysis of selected authors and their works of art related to the topic of identity in a portrait, we have created a series of self-portraits, which are aimed at analysing the identity of an individual in comparison to the identity of their closest family members.
Key words
Portrait, Photography, Identity, Physiognomy, Beauty myth
JONISOVÁ, E.: Portrait – Visual Identity of a Person. In European Journal of Media, Art & Photography, 2019, Vol. 7, No. 2, p. 98-131. ISSN 1339-4940.