man portrait | Vancouver Photographer

“I do not paint a portrait to look like the subject, rather does the person grow to look like his portrait.”

– Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali has always been one of my favorite artists, and I think this is a pretty thought provoking quote.

I’ve been thinking lately about why I’m so drawn to portrait photography. In a way, they are just pictures of people. But there is so much more to them, and I think that’s what Dali is referring to. Portraits go beyond the image; they invite you into a story.

Sometimes I will see a a great portrait and I will immediately connect with it, even before I understand why (if I ever do!). Sort of like our heart, or soul see’s something that our mind cannot. Or at least doesn’t see it at first, which means portraits can make you think.

I absolutely love these portraits of my buddy Tony, and if you knew him you’d know why. We all have side of ourselves that we show the world and sides that we don’t. To much of the world Tony is the loud, fun loving, sometime obnoxious,  funny, in your face, kind of guy. He has an opinion, and he shares it! He’s the life of the party where ever he goes, and people love hanging out with him.

But there are many other sides of this man, or any man… on any one really.

We project to the world what we think the world wants to see like success, happiness, intelligence, etc… But deep down we really just want people to see who we really are.

I just saw Avatar the other day and I thought the Na’vi greeting was brilliant. They would say “I see you”. One character explains to  another that this greeting does not simply mean I literally see you standing in front of me, but rather I see who you are. Being seen, truly seen, speaks to a deep longing of the human experience. To be known fully, to be validated, to matter. And I think that’s what makes a good portrait. Not just a picture of what a person looks like, but a picture that lets you see who that person is.

I should say that I have upwards of a hundred other shots of Tony, in true form, totally goofing off. And maybe I’ll post a few of those later. But these were the pictures that I think dug in a bit more.

Tony, you are an onion. Thank you for letting me peel layer after stinky layer off of you 😉

Cheers

PS: Pairing them made them painfully small, so give them a click to see them bigger.