Shooting An Environmental Portrait

Today’s Post by Joe Farace, photography by Mark Toal

The classic definition of an environmental portraiture is that it’s a portrait executed in the subject’s living, working, or just paying environment and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings.

By photographing a person in their natural surroundings, instead of a studio, the theory goes anyway, that you can more effectively portray the essence of their personality, rather than just a mere likeness.

The upside is that it is more than likely (although ‘ya never really know) that the subject will be more at relaxed and more likely to be themselves, as opposed to shooting in a studio, which can be a rather intimidating and artificial experience.

Like all rules of thumb, there is some truth it that but some people are never comfortable in front of a camera in matter where you photograph them. The upside is that you have a better chance of capturing as much of them as they will let you have in an environmental portrait than in the studio.