An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings. The term is most frequently used of a genre of photography.

MARY ELLEN MARK

Mary Ellen Mark was an American photographer known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture, and advertising photography. She photographed people who were “away from mainstream society and toward its more interesting, often troubled, fringes”.

LARRY CLARK

Lawrence Donald Clark is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for his contentious teen film Kids and his photography book Tulsa. His hard-hitting photography often portraits drug use, subcultures and teenage sexuality, his controversial representations of American youth culture are deeply rooted in his own upbringing.

MICHELLE SANK

Michelle Sank was born in Cape Town, South Africa. She left there in 1978 and has been living in England since 1987. Her images reflect a preoccupation with the human condition and to this end can be viewed as social documentary. Her work encompasses issues around socio-economic and cultural diversity.

Environmental portraits can be candid or staged shots. Good environmental portraits will tell strong stories of their subjects. Their immediate surroundings will give the viewer insight into where these people are, what they do, and who they are.