Portrait Photography Research / Presentation Notes

What is portrait photography?
'Portrait photography or portraiture is photography of a person or group of people that displays the expression, personality, and mood of the subject.
 Like other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is usually the person's face, although the entire body and the background or context may be included.'
(Wikipedia definition)

How is the genre used?
There are many different sub-genres linked to studio photography.
Fashion photography, candid photography, environmental portraits, lifestyle portraits, conceptual portraits to name a few

A little bit of its history...
Robert Cornelius (1809 - 1893) was an American Pioneer of Photography.
He developed a keen interest in chemistry in his youth, and in 1831 he began working for his father specializing in silver plating and metal polishing. Cornelius was approached by Joseph Saxton to create a silver plate for his daguerreotype of Central High School in Philadelphia. It was this meeting that sparked Cornelius's interest in photography.
Daguerreotype - Invented by Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre, the daguerreotype process was introduced in 1839 and was the first publicly announced photographic process and the first to come into widespread use. The daguerreotype image is formed on a highly polished silver surface, normally Sheffield plate. 


'The first light picture ever taken' 
-Cornelius' words written on the back of the photograph

This photo was made in 1839 ,using a mid-19th century silver-plated daguerreotype. It is a self-portrait of Robert Cornelius.
On a sunny day in October, Robert Cornelius set up his camera in the back of his father’s gas lamp-importing business on Chestnut Street in Center City, Philadelphia. 
After removing the lens cap, he sprinted into the frame, where he sat for more than a minute before covering up the lens. 
The picture he produced that day was the first photographic self-portrait. It is also widely considered the first successful photographic portrait of a human being.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/05/worlds-first-selfie-1839-robert-cornelius_n_4392804.html
http://petapixel.com/2011/07/19/the-first-self-portrait-photo-ever-made/
http://parchai.com/blog/%E2%80%9Cthe-first-light-picture-ever-taken-1839%E2%80%9D/