I’ve shot at least two thousand portraits over the past thirty-three years. Business portraits, environmental portraits, editorial portraits, magazine portraits, author and writer portraits, political campaign portraits, athlete and team portraits, headshots for actors, models and musicians, some family, children and pet portraits, a couple dozen prom portraits, a handful of bride and groom portraits and two maternity portraits.
Two thousand portraits might seem like a large number but that averages to about 60 portraits per year or slightly more than one per week. Photographers who specialize in portraits do much more than this.
These 2,000 portraits have been used in newspapers, magazines, books, billboards, political campaign lawn signs, calendars, posters, business cards, birthday cards, record album covers, brochures, web sites, social media pages, and even on coffee mugs and livingroom walls.
A photographer may shoot hundreds or thousands of portraits over the years and it will seem like no big deal to that photographer. Just a normal part of the photography business. But most people don’t get photographed every day, (not including selfies). Most people don’t have *proper* pictures of themselves. So for most people, getting a professional portrait made, whether for business or personal reasons, is often a big deal.
Routine Portraits are not always ordinary
• A dentist in 2008 hired me to do “after” pictures of some of his patients showing off their new smiles.
Earlier this year (2018), I ran into one of those patients and she reminded me of the portrait I had done of her ten years earlier. She said it was her favourite picture of herself and she’s been using it on her Facebook ever since.
When her portrait was made, she had just moved to Canada and was starting a new life. That photo was important, she said, because it reminded her of a major turning point in her life of which she was very proud.
• In 1995, I got a call from a woman whose husband had just died and she asked if she could get a copy of a studio portrait I had done of him. She said it was the best ever photo of her husband because it captured him perfectly. Several 8″x10″ and 11″x14″ prints were made and delivered to the funeral home. I also gave the family all the original negatives.
About a week later, a mutual acquaintance who was at the funeral mentioned that the family had this amazing picture of the man on display at the funeral. The acquaintance said, “It looked like a photo that you would do.” That has stuck with me ever since.
• A couple years ago, during a business portrait shoot in an office, a woman came over and asked if I remembered her. I had no idea who she was. How did she know me? I did her softball team portrait in 1985 when she was 14 years old. And yes, she still had the picture.
• Way back in 1988, I did a portrait of actor Henry Winkler. The pictures were to be done in a hotel room but he wanted something different and he was hungry. We went to the hotel’s restaurant and sat in a far corner where he wouldn’t attract attention. The portraits were lit by the restaurant’s large windows.
Winkler asked if he could get copies for his mother. I said he must have hundreds of pictures of himself to give to his mother. He replied that he only had pictures of himself as an actor. This time he wanted something nice to give his mother. I mailed him some prints to him. Two weeks later, he sent a thank-you note which I still have.
• Wedding photography is not something I do but I’ve shot exactly five – one for a baseball pitcher (more on this later) and four for friends.
A swimsuit model whom I had previously photographed for a couple of calendars got married in the mid-1990s. Several weeks after her wedding she called and said she hated her wedding pictures (shot by another photographer) because it had rained throughout her wedding day and all her photos ended up being shot indoors at a hotel. She wanted something better.
She had her bridal gown cleaned, her husband re-rented a tuxedo and they bought another bridal bouquet. They also brought a change of clothes to something more casual. We spent a few hours doing pictures at a nearby park – they lived three blocks away from one of the city’s largest and best groomed parks. Because the pictures were not done on their wedding day but several weeks later, the couple were very relaxed and not in a hurry.
When I delivered the photos, the woman cried and hugged me. The pictures did not recreate traditional wedding photos but rather tried to show the relationship between the couple.
People, including photographers, often forget the importance of good portraits which can become part of a family’s history.
A funny thing happened on the way to the studio
• In 2000, I was commissioned to do a photo of British pop band Duran Duran. At the time scheduled for the photography, there was some sort of important soccer game underway on TV and the band wanted to watch it. After finding a television set in someone’s office, I waited with the group until the match was over and then we did the pictures.
• Also in 2000, I was hired to do a portrait of some girl group I never heard of. The three young women were so polite, patient and easy to work with. Since I had no idea who they were, I asked for their names: Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé and Michelle Williams:
• Singer Geri Halliwell left the Spice Girls in May 1998 and she virtually disappeared for a while. She then surfaced in Canada in 1999 to promote her new solo career. She did one TV interview, one print interview and one brief studio shoot — with me.
Nine years later, I did a studio portrait of another former Spice Girl, Mel C.
• Did I ever mention the time I was sent to prison? I was sent to Collins Bay Penitentiary for photography. That is to say, I went to photograph some inmates.
While photographing a convicted double murderer, we chatted about what it’s like to live in prison. He said he didn’t like the food and that he deserved better quality meals. He said without a trace of irony, (and I’m not making this up), “Just because I killed some people doesn’t mean I’m a bad person.”
• A portrait I did of an Ontario provincial cabinet minister in 1991 may or may not have caused him to get kicked out of cabinet.
• In the 1990s, I was commissioned to do a photo of rock band R.E.M. When I got to the record label’s office, the band was very behind schedule doing a series of TV interviews. I was told to wait a couple of hours. Since it was a nice afternoon, I decided to wait in my car which was parked in front of the record label’s office. I fell asleep.
A loud knocking on the driver’s window woke me up. I rolled down the window and one of the three guys standing there asked, “Are you the photographer?” (I replied yes.) “We’re R.E.M. Do you want to do some pictures?”
• I did a studio portrait of someone who, unknown to me at the time, was wanted by police on a Canada-wide warrant. When the picture was published in a newspaper a few weeks later, the Toronto police, who had “forgotten” about the guy, immediately recognized him, located him and arrested him. A police officer actually phoned me to say thanks.
• Toronto’s historic Maple Leaf Gardens hockey arena was to close in February 1999. Two months earlier on December 19, 1998, the New York Rangers were in Toronto to play what would be their final game at Maple Leaf Gardens.
During the team’s morning game-day practice, Wayne Gretzky thought it would be great to have a souvenir photo of the team at the Gardens. The Rangers PR person phoned and asked me to come over as quickly as possible. The team wanted a photo before the end of their skate.
One hundred 8″x10″ prints were made and hand-delivered to the team’s dressing room door later that same day before the game started.
• I did a somewhat unplanned portrait of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain in October 1991. I was hired to do a routine picture of the royal couple arriving for a luncheon at the University of Toronto where the king was to receive an honourary doctorate of laws degree.
A provincial police officer, who was in charge of diplomatic security, recognized me and asked if I wanted a better photo position. After I said yes, I was led into the building, down a hall and into an empty room.
“Wait here,” I was told.
I stood alone in the room and waited. And waited. I nervously checked my watch. The royal couple was to arrive at 11:50AM and it was now noon.
“I’m in the wrong place! I’ve missed the arrival,” I thought.
Then the door opened and in walked the king and queen and one other person. The door closed behind them. The room was silent. They weren’t expecting me and I wasn’t expecting them to be so up-close and personal.
We greeted each other and I asked if we could do some pictures. Posing the couple near a row of windows, we did a few pictures before they left to make their entrance into the next-door luncheon.
• I was hired to do some editorial portraits of the Prime Minister of Hungary in 1999, one year after he took power. Arriving early at the prearranged downtown Toronto hotel conference room, the police and their bomb-sniffing dog were still busy checking the room and nearby hallways. I was told to wait in the hotel lobby.
While standing in the lobby with two cameras and a camera bag dangling from my shoulders, a man in a dark suit came over, pointed at me and only said, “Let’s go.” But instead of going to the conference room, he led me to the elevators.
Security people were holding an elevator open and one person motioned that I should get in. The doors were held open as they were apparently waiting for something.
From beyond my sight, I could hear a commotion, a crowd of people coming closer. Then a man quickly entered the elevator along with two very large security people and the doors closed.
I recognized the man as being the Hungarian prime minister. The two security guys just stared up and down at me. No one said a word. When we got to his floor, the prime minister and his security exited the elevator. I followed.
At the end of the hotel corridor, a security person opened a door and the politician walked in. The security person continued to hold open the door so I entered, too. The security people stayed outside. The door closed and it was just the prime minister and me and silence.
It then occurred to me that no one had questioned me, no one had checked my credentials and no one had searched me. Except for the person who said, “Let’s go,” no one said a word to me. Yet here I was, alone with the prime minister. I guess being the only person in the hotel lobby with lots of camera gear and having security people stare at me was good enough.
• In December 2000, I was hired as a second shooter for a Toronto Blue Jays pitcher’s wedding. It was held at the very nice and very pink, Vinoy Hotel in Florida. It was built in 1926.
The plan was to do bridal party portraits near the front entrance and the hotel agreed to clear all other guests and vehicles from the area. We plugged strobe power packs into an electrical outlet near the front steps and tested it. We were ready to go.
The bridal party arrived almost two hours later than planned. They got into position, the shutter button was pushed, the flashes fired and . . . the front face of the hotel, all the driveway lighting, the inside lobby and the hotel’s interior and exterior Christmas displays went black.
The strobe packs had tripped the one circuit breaker that handled most of the hotel’s front electrical needs. Did I mention that it was an old hotel built in 1926?
It turned out that the strobes had worked during our earlier testing because, at that time (late afternoon), the extensive Christmas displays, front entrance lights and driveway lighting weren’t turned on. Or maybe the hotel was haunted?
The hotel had a maintenance worker sit next to the electrical panel in the hotel basement. After each photo tripped the circuit breaker and most of the hotel lights went off, the guy reset the breaker. So for about 10 minutes, while we quickly did some bridal photos, the hotel lights went on and off. I suspect other hotel guests were not amused. *I’m not making up any of this!*
Selfies or Portraits
Portraits are everywhere today. We are hardwired to look at photos of other people.
For some people, and even some businesses, a cellphone picture or other cheap photo is good enough. These people are happy with a photo that simply shows their appearance.
But some people want something better, something that has more meaning. These people want a portrait that shows who they are.
That was a great post, thanks.