What ever happened to classic portraiture?

[bryanlindsey]

Originally Posted by Murph

My grandfather once told me: "Boy, everyone is prejudiced, and to say you are not is a [expletive deleted] lie. It is how you ACT on your prejudices that makes it good or bad. It is your choice of action that defines you, not what you think".

This made me laugh. I don't know the OP, but wasn't the ACTION of creating a post based on prejudices?

@ Sergio: Howdy, and welcome to the Texas Photo Forum! I don't "get" your stuff, but I'd be glad to sit down and have a beer with you, bro...

[klynam]

I'm late to the party but I've been thinking on this VERY topic some time.

Yes, I'm intrigued by "trendy / edgy / modern" portraiture, though of course it is really more akin to fashion/editorial photography (re: link in original post). And even though I agree it is almost a no-brainier to replicate, and makes it VERY easy to hide bad photography, it's also relatively easy to sell right now as everyone wants to be a star, and that's how stars look these days.

In reality, the trend is just a function of

1. Our culture's insatiable desire for instant gratification (served perfectly by digital photography)
2. The voyeuristic hyper-realism so popular in today's media (just think of all the "reality" shows these days!)
3. And fast, cheap and easy digital processing

Blend these together and you have today's "hottest photographic style"

Personally, I love simple, classic portrait photographers like Gabriel Portraiture, www.fuzzydunkel.com, and I probably always will. Though I also admit there is a VERY fine line at times between "cheezy" and "classic".

But I also make darn sure I can deliver ANY style my customer is interested in - and do it well !!!