Poses for a portrait of a male and female: posing rules

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Portrait poses are nothing new, going back centuries. For many years, masters of the brush experimented with the position of the hero on the canvas relative to the objects surrounding him, looking for more advantageous positions. Often, variations in postures directly depended on the gender, age, and title of the depicted person. Also, an important role in choosing the position of the hero was played by the traditions and canons of painting, which every self-respecting artist was obliged to strictly follow. Sometimes, due to the full observance of all the rules for depicting a person in a particular country, the portrait could look funny, however, it seems so only to modern viewers. Art connoisseurs note that the ancient poses for portraits were not only not funny at that time, but also showed the nobility, willpower, dignity and we alth of a person.

The Art of Posing

Pose forportrait - perhaps one of the most important components of the entire work of art as a whole. A correctly chosen pose will not only present the hero of the portrait in a favorable light, but also make his shortcomings virtues, beating them thanks to the correctly chosen position of the body parts. Since ancient times, such tricks as tilting the body, turning the head or a special position of the hands helped the character "get rid" of a protruding belly, a double chin, an overly wide face or short limbs. Of course, in real life, nothing will change if you do not make an effort, however, a portrait is a completely different matter.

Over the long years of the existence of the portrait as a genre of fine art, resourceful masters of the brush invented a huge number of poses for any occasion, as well as for any type of client. Every artist wanted to get a decent pay for their work, therefore, it was necessary to please the client. And what kind of person wants to see their flaws in the picture? That's right, none. And the artist could not lie either, since the customer could simply not accept a too embellished portrait. Therefore, it was necessary to depict reality, hiding imperfections under clothes, behind the right background, or with the help of a carefully chosen pose.

Classic male poses

Variations of the positions of men in the frame or in the frame of the canvas are endless and depend only on the desire of the client and the ingenuity of the artist, however, there are still several traditional positions for the stronger sex, which are usually used when the client wants to show his maleself-confidence, prosperity, well-being and firmness.

Classic poses for a portrait of a man are distinguished by their restraint and are aimed at revealing the character and spiritual world of a person.

Arms folded across chest. This position immediately presents a man in a favorable light, showing his readiness for conflict with the outside world, as well as his self-sufficiency

• Retracted shoulder. This pose for a male portrait gives its owner a touch of frivolous self-confidence. Usually a man leans against something to show off his shoulder and biceps when he is wearing a short shirt or t-shirt.
• Tilted head. This position is used for close-ups. Only the man's face is placed in the frame, his head is slightly tilted forward, demonstrating strong-willed character and fortitude.

Other poses for a male portrait are variations of the above poses or a combination of several at once. This usually results in a successful collaboration between photographer and client.

Classic female poses

A portrait of a woman has always been considered more difficult work than a portrait of a man. Despite the emergence of new technologies that allow you to create incredible photographic works, it is not always possible to successfully photograph a woman, even experienced professionals in their field.

There are several classic poses that will make any woman look in a very favorable light, despite her flaws.

• Throughshoulder. This is a pose in which the model is looking at the photographer over her shoulder. Thanks to the effect of an undisclosed image, a mystery remains in a woman that attracts attention.
• Hands near the face. A very comfortable position in which the special position of the hands allows you to hide the imperfections of the chest and face. Usually this pose is used by models advertising cosmetics or hair shampoo

• Hand behind the head. The hand wound behind the back of the head, favorably sets off the chest and neck of the model.
• Thigh rotation. The model is hip-turned into the frame, exposing one side in front of the other. An extremely advantageous position for demonstrating the figure of a girl. Poses for a portrait of a girl are usually created based on this one, since it is she who can show the female figure in all its glory

All other positions are usually variations on the above, with minor variations or major additions to other parts of the woman's body.

Portrait

The portrait, in contrast to the photographic work, was more strict and obeyed the canons of fine art, which, in turn, were dictated by fashion and the historical era, as well as the religious beliefs of a particular people. The poses for the portrait were approved in special regulations for artists, which indicated whether a person could be portrayed, and if so, in what position. Often everything was regulated, down to the level of the head tilt, the position of the feet, the waving of the hands and the position of the lips. Since in the past only religious figures were painted,then kings, emperors and warriors were depicted by analogy, without adding to their images only elements symbolizing the holiness of the depicted person.

Poses from the past

Practically all portrait poses have come into modern fashion from the past. Even the ancient Egyptians were the first to understand the factor of the "working side" of a person's face, and the ancient Romans guessed that if a person is depicted sideways or half-turned, then he will not look as full as he is in reality.

Over time, only the form of clothing and the style of the characters in the portraits changed. Also in the middle of the last century, photography replaced brushes and paints, which significantly accelerated the process of creating a portrait.

The ancient Greeks have long studied the advantageous positions of the human body in perspective.

However, the poses themselves, as well as the character of people who want to look more elegant on paper than in reality, have not changed at all.

Photo portrait

Photography, as a genre of fine art, arose at a time when traditions and canons no longer had such an impact on the public, however, anyway, at first, photo artists worked according to special rules, photographing noble gentlemen and ladies according to the canons of the secular etiquette.

Poses for a camera portrait in the mid-nineteenth century were fairly simple:

Matrimonial position. A man sits on an armchair or chair in a photo studio, a woman stands nearby, putting her hand on his shoulder. In addition to a strict formal attire, they took everything with them to the photo shoot.necessary paraphernalia, such as a monocle, lenses, glasses, a cane, a reticule and a hat

Family pose. All family members stand in a row in front of the camera lens, the older ones stand behind the children, and the very elderly family members sit in the very first row on chairs. Any more or less prosperous family of that time had similar photographs, which was able to hire a photographer to take a photo portrait of the entire family at once

• Gentleman's pose. A man stands near some fairly large object, which could be a vase, chair, column, or something else, and holds a cane or a cylinder in his hands. Sometimes a representative of the stronger sex could twist his leg or lay one leg on the other if the photo session was held in a sitting position. This gave the image of a gentleman an imposing and relaxed manner, acceptable by the standards of that time.
• Pose for a portrait of a woman. The lady sits on a chair, spreading her dress as wide as possible to demonstrate all its beauty. Usually, girls tilted their heads a little to achieve a "dreamy" image. Such photographs were incredibly popular among the young ladies of the early twentieth century. They were sent to loved ones along with special letters. Thus, this position has already become a kind of ritual of romantic relationships among the educated part of society.

Just pictures

In this style of art, special portrait poses are almost never used. Usually, the term "simple photographs" refers tohome photography, when relatives or friends take pictures of each other just like that, as a keepsake, without pursuing any aesthetic goals. Such photographs are of value only to their authors and addressees, and are of no interest to art connoisseurs.

Romantic style

The so-called love story photo session also requires certain poses, although, according to most photographers, young people or solid couples in love simply act as their heart tells them, and all photo portraits are very sincere and incredibly alive. There are no special rules or skills, just be open and relaxed and trust your loved one.

Acting Portfolio Poses

A completely different scheme is used when creating a portfolio for people of creative professions. Here, the most important criterion is the versatility of a person, therefore, instead of any one pose, the photographer offers the model shooting in several poses, and from the resulting material creates a collage that most fully reveals the creative essence of the customer. Instead of using waist-length portrait poses, often the artist works with the full figure of the actor, making his ward jump, smile, make faces, make pathetic waves with his hands or kneel in the most sincere way possible, imitating the actors of the classical genre.

As a result, instead of one or two photos, you get a full-fledged collage, which may includeseveral dozen fixed facial expressions and poses of a creative person.

Official style

Official-business style in the portrait genre is not a new phenomenon. Serious and strict poses for a portrait of a woman or a photograph of a man have long been considered classic for people who are close to seriousness and efficiency.

Business Poses

So-called "business photos" are usually taken either by employees of official institutions or corporations, or by people who want to show everyone their success. Beautiful poses for a portrait in this style are almost never used, since for these works it is not the aesthetic content that is important, but the material content of the frame. Usually there are men or women in the photo in strict business suits, with expensive attributes of famous brands or expensive cars, which, in theory, should emphasize their high financial position in the eyes of the viewer.

Business photos are essentially works done in the same official style, with the difference that the official style does not aim to show the luxurious life of the person in the photo.