An environmental portrait is a portrait of a person taken in their usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, typically highlighting the person’s life and surroundings.

Contextual:

Arnold Newman was an American photographer, well known for his environmental portraits. In 1963, Newman had been asked by the Newsweek magazine to take a portrait of a German industrialist (Alfred Krupp), to which Newman initially declined, due to the fact he was Jewish and Krupp had been a supplier of machinery and railway systems for the Nazis in WWII. Krupp had later been convicted for crimes against humanity and was sentenced for 12 years imprisonment.
When Newman finally accepted the job, having been given the opportunity to get a sense of personal revenge against the Nazis, he had told others that his aim was to make Krupp look like the devil.

Visual:

The visual aspects of the image come together to create an eerie and unnatural effect with the overlying green tint adding to this. Newman focused on the tone of the image, using light to highlight the sides of Krupp’s face, leaving dark shadows underneath his hands and the center of his face, this extreme contrast helped Newman to achieve a sinister portrayal of Krupp. Newman’s placement of Krupp allows him to create depth within the image. In the foreground of the image, Krupp has been framed using two concrete pillars on either side of him. He only takes up around half of the image, leaving the upper half to show his environment.

The smart suit and watch and clasping of Krupp’s hands gives the viewer the impression that Krupp is in control and thriving off of what’s surrounding him. The rustic and industrial-looking architecture aids in the inference that Krupp’s line of work is corrupt and disreputable.

Conceptual:

The conceptual idea behind this was to depict the pure evil Newman saw in Nazis and the people associated with them. Considering Newman was Jewish, his view on extremist Germans was highly pejorative and this image was used to as a method of retaliation from him.