Most of my portraits are “Street-style” where I wait for the action to come to me and click an opportunity, often with a story but not always. My studio and other posed work may also tell a story but it is much more deliberate, both for the subject and myself. I find that unposed work usually shows more about the subject and are more natural than when they can contort/adjust their face. My performers’ photos are almost never posed – that’s why I get asked to take them!
On the left is a well-known actor in his lounge and his cat. Although I took several pictures, this one tells his story. On the right, sitting in a park in Sorrento, and a long lens, I did quite a few clicks to get some very candid shots, like this one.
Notice the difference in the cheek shapes and eyelids between these two: that on the left is candid while that on the right knew I was taking the picture. Both taken within minutes of each other.
People are always interesting but I usually learn more from observation followed by capture, than from searching the image afterwards for clues about them. However many people there are in the photo, the same generality still seems to apply.
