Full face and profile portraits - what is it?

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

The terms "full face" and "profile" can often be heard among portrait photographers. Do you know what these words mean? Our article is devoted to a detailed coverage of this issue. Read, it will be interesting…

What is full face?

Now we will give the simplest example, and everything will become clear to you right away. Let's say you came to a photo salon in order to be photographed for a new passport. How will you be placed? Absolutely even, so that your eyes are fixed directly on the lens - a strict motionless pose in which there is no place for artistic invention. Turning your head to the right or left, even a centimeter, is absolutely unacceptable.

This is the angle called full face. This word comes from the French en face, which can be translated into our language as "in front of the face." Such portrait images are practiced not only in photography, but also in painting and drawing, but more on that later. So, we just figured out what the full face is, now let's talk about the profile.

What is a profile?

Even easier with a profile. Few people will not understand what is at stake ifphotographed, he will be asked to turn in profile. You just need to stand sideways to the lens and let the photographer capture your proud look. True, usually instantaneous full-face and profile photos are taken when a person commits an offense. Ordinary law-abiding citizens are rarely forced to be photographed like this. Unless someone wants to be photographed in this way, perhaps for a joke or a practical joke.

However, some people have a very beautiful profile. Girls who are lucky enough to have the right facial features, in this case, do not miss the opportunity to demonstrate their external advantages in front of the camera. Black and white profile photographs look very impressive, especially when a person is shot against a dark background. Contrast plays a role here - the darkened background favorably sets off the light features of the human profile.

Full face scenic portrait

And how are things in the fine arts? After all, despite the fact that modern people have the opportunity to get inexpensive and high-quality photographs of their own persons, pictorial portraits are still popular. Yes, this is true, but such angles as full face and profile are not in vogue in portraiture today. And among the paintings of past centuries, there are not so many similar examples.

One of the most famous full-face images is the famous self-portrait of the artist Durer, which he painted in 1500. This man made a very bold act for his time, portraying himself directly facing the viewer, because before that they paintedonly faces of saints and Jesus Christ.

There is a well-known portrait of Ernesto Che Guevara, in which the face of the hero of the revolution is turned forward. It is believed that this is also a full-face portrait, however, one can argue with this statement - after all, a slight, slightly noticeable turn of the head is still present there, and the legendary Cuban is looking somewhere into the sky, which makes the image perceived as very dynamic.

Famous portrait of Simonetta Vespucci

And now we will tell you about one old painting by the Italian master Sandro Botticelli, which depicts an inexpressibly beautiful profile of a girl named Simonetta Vespucci. This is one of the most famous portraits painted in profile. The girl at the time of writing the picture was very young, but already a married lady. She was considered the first beauty of Florence. Historians believe that Giuliano de' Medici was passionately in love with Simonetta.

Sandro Botticelli - the Medici court painter - often painted a girl. She served as a model for such of his paintings as "The Birth of Venus", "Spring", "Madonna Magnificat" and others. In honor of the first beauty, knightly tournaments were held, poets dedicated poems to her, and singers sang of her unearthly, sublime beauty. Thanks to the brush of the great Renaissance master, today we can see the subtle angelic features of a girl who left this world a long time ago. By the way, Simonetta Vespucci died very early, at the age of 22, from transient consumption.

What other angles exist in a portraitphotography and painting

Well, we've talked enough about the front and profile angles. Now let's talk a little about other positions of the body in space, which are often used when creating portraits. The most favorite angle among portrait painters of all time is the "three-quarters" - this is a slight turn of the face and body to the left or right. In order to illustrate this perspective for you, we decided to take the most famous portrait in the history of mankind - the unique and unfading Mona Lisa of the great Leonardo da Vinci.

It happens that the artist asks his model to turn around even more. This angle is called "two-thirds". This is something between a profile and full face.

In conclusion

We hope we didn't bore you with this short article. However, the topic "Full face and profile" was revealed by us in full, wasn't it?